


Rogues Series 1

by Justcallmeburg



Series: Rogues By Burg [2]
Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:21:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 45,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25588993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justcallmeburg/pseuds/Justcallmeburg
Summary: It is strongly advised to read Rogues Series 1 prologue before advancing to Chapter 1!ROGUES SERIES 1 Synopsis:Set in a modern fantasy world, the series' main protagonist Derora was given a chance to retrieve her memories from childhood amnesia. In exchange for the paramnesia—in forms of flashbacks and dreams—she will be served with lies, betrayals and even a harsh truth behind the adversity as the adventure unfolds.
Series: Rogues By Burg [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1851586
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

The young woman who Kayli and Maurien brought back is now in Kayli's guest room fast asleep. Since they were back, the weather had gotten worse, and somehow, the storm's temper got Maurien panic-stricken, weighing consequential ripples. "What happens if I get caught, and they see her in your bed and realise she isn't in the citizen database?"  
"You need to calm down. Pretty sure you won't get busted so fast," said Kayli.  
Just as when she was about to continue, the girl began to stir.  
"She's awake!" said Maurien.  
The girl leapt up from her bed, alarmed to see two strangers staring at her. "Who are you?! How did I get here?!" shouted the girl. "Who are you, people?!"  
Maurien was startled by the girl's sudden gesture, but Kayli remained calm. "Hey, relax. Take it easy. We are not kidnappers. Just innocent bystanders who happened to find you when you passed out, drenched in seawater. We brought you here to nurse you back to health," said Kayli.  
The girl, reassured, was able to calm down. "What are your names?" asked the girl in her normal voice.  
"My name is Maurien, and the young lady next to me is Kayli. What is your name?"  
The girl answered, "Derora."  
For some reason, Maurien found that name oddly familiar, "Derora. That name sounds familiar. Are you named after--"  
"Where am I?" interrupted Derora.  
Kayli answered, "My house."  
"No, I mean, where exactly am I?"  
Maurien resonates to what Derora was asking and translated it to Kayli, "I think she wants to know where exactly she is, in terms of the name of this kingdom."  
"Oh! You are in Raiona, dear."  
"Raiona?" asked the confused Derora. "How did I end up here?"  
"We found you washed ashore on the beachside," said Maurien. "Luckily, you landed into the private section of the beach. You would have been arrested for illegal trespassing if you landed in the public section."  
Kayli added, "And if you would like to know, we are specifically in Ricca, Raiona's capital, resided by nobles, including a fraud like me."  
"Kayli!" exclaimed Maurien, unimpressed by Kayli's self-mockery.  
"I am kidding, geez," said Kayli, giving Maurien a roguish smile.  
As the two teased each other, Derora mumbled to herself. "I wonder how far I have gone to get here from my foster care."  
"Wait, Derora," said Maurien, interrupting her train of thoughts. "You said you came from foster care?"  
Derora nodded, "Yes, I don't have a family of my own. I don't know who my parents, siblings and relatives are..."  
As she continued, a throbbing headache loomed over Derora's ability to speak.  
Kayli was prompted to put Derora back to bed to recover her strength. "Derora, you are tired, so maybe we will let you rest and maybe we can get to know each other better tomorrow," said Kayli, tucking her to bed. "Good night."  
Derora watched them leave the room, and thought, "These people are...odd but, they seem nice."  
Kayli grabbed Maurien to the living room right below Derora's room., "Never in my life would someone magically appear on our shores," whispered Kayli, clasping her fingers and resting her elbows on the gunmetal coffee table. "I can't trust that Derora girl. I mean, I just met her."  
Maurien agreed, determined to investigate Derora's identity. "We need to know more information about her."  
"We need to know who she is and where she came from."  
"She said that she was from foster care," added Maurien.  
"Oh, what about it?" asked Kayli. "How the hell did she get separated from them? Aren't foster care like one big happy family?"  
"Not all foster care. I believe Derora had some troubles with her foster family that she separated herself from them and ended up here," said Maurien. "Also, Oro Shores is an enclosed area, so no royal guards were patrolling. Let's see if we can get some information from her once she recovers."  
Maurien paused in deep thought, "She said her name is Derora. That name sounds eerily familiar, as if it's the name of....No, no, many others are named Derora..."  
Before Maurien could continue, Kayli and Maurien were startled by a loud knock from the entrance.  
The housekeeper entered the living room, daunted by the arrival of a visitor."Lady Kayli, I think you are in trouble. A representative from the Royal House of Raiona wants to see both of you."  
Maurien realised that his brother had sent someone to locate him, "Oh, shoot."  
"Ah, son of a gun," groaned Kayli, guessing who was at the door.  
Both went down the stairs to the entrance of the estate to check what was going on. There, a tall exotic-looking and brown-tanned man with forest green hair and green eyes, dressed in a mix of silver and forest green clothing stood in front of a black limousine, looking at Kayli with a cold glare.  
Kayli recognised him but was wretched to see him, "Well, if it isn't His Highness' loyal Adhayan dog, Darshani Deshmukh."  
Darshani was relieved to see Maurien unharmed, ignoring Kayli's presence. "Your highness, I am glad to see you alright. Your brother has been worried about you. We were combing through half the city of Ricca until we aroused a suspicion that you could be here."  
"Darshani, I can explain--"  
Darshani cut off Maurien's explanation sternly. "Explain it later when we get home. Due to your disappearance without getting official permission, I am afraid that you are officially grounded, as ordered by Sir Mavriki. I'll have to take you home before someone sees you without security."  
Maurien was baffled and told Kayli, "Well, I have to leave now. It was nice 'hanging out' with you."  
Kayli winked and said, "You can always come back if you know what I mean."  
Darshani perceived Kayli's memo and gave a mini-lecture, "Just because your father is the Royal Adviser for the King, it doesn't mean that you can abuse that privilege to sneak the prince out anytime you want. Sir Democritus will be cut off from his long term ties with the royal family if this happens again. All royal benefits will be removed from both of you."  
"Right," said Kayli, irreverently clicking her tongue. "I forgot my dad works for the King."  
Darshani rolled his eyes, rebuking Kayli's rude behaviour. "Do not disrespect the man who gave you a place to stay, considering you are a 'special case'."  
Kayli scornfully mimicked Darshini's words, proving that Darshini's lectures were useless.  
"I shall not waste my time further. Maurien let's go. Your brother is worried about you."  
"More like the royal twat will implement a punishment on me for a petty ass reason as always," commented Kayli.  
"Kayli!" shouted Maurien. "Language!"  
"Kaylista Esparenza, you never learn a thing or two to refrain yourself from saying provocative words and being disrespectful to your elders and superiors, including Prince Mavriki," said Darshani.  
Kayli groaned, "Aye, I hate having my full name called. Why am I called Kaylista again?"  
Darshani ignored Kayli and escorted Maurien to the car.  
"Good night, Kayli," said Maurien as the car door closed.  
The engines roared that she looked over at the entrance as Maurien was whisked away in a black limousine as the car went towards the estate's iron gates.  
Kayli watched the limousine left, feeling worried and relieved at the same time. "I hope Darshani doesn't tell my dad," she thought. "At least he doesn't know there's an illegal immigrant in my house."  
Kayli then went up the stairs to check on Derora who was fast asleep. "I will find out more about you tomorrow then," thought Kayli as she leaves the room. "I hope she isn't that scammer like last time."  
She glanced at Derora before closing the door, "Something is telling me that she is here for something, but I don't know what it is. As long she isn't here for the money, then I'm okay."  
\---

On the way back to the Palace, Maurien, who was at the back seat, watched the bright lights of the diners, cinemas and other entertainment spots pass by him.  
"Is it alright if I say something?" asked Maurien.  
"Yes, Prince Maurien," said Darshani.  
"I never experienced the nightlife of the Kingdom like this before, especially in Ricca. Like there is a lot of activity. I see people happily chattering away out of places like these. I never had a chance to go out of the palace, and I thought maybe one day I should go and experience these things."  
"Prince, you are different. The people of Raiona, as what your brother said, are low standard people with high wealth status. Do you want to be like them? Interacting with these people can dilute your reputation as not only a prince but the future king of Raiona, should your brother step down in the future."  
"But at least they want to see someone from the Royal family who would like to interact directly with the people."  
"Maurien, you are influenced by Kayli. She's an adopted child. She is not of royal blood so she can interact with whoever she likes."  
Maurien was left speechless.  
Darshani continued, "You have a part to play, and that is to support your brother into getting the royal title and attend to other matters of the royal family."  
Maurien broached a subject he has always questioned. "Apart from how father and Mavriki lightly handled the disappearance of my older brother?"  
Darshani was staggered by the unexpected comment. "Maurien, that is different. Your late older brother did something wrong."  
"By 'dishonouring the family'? That father and Mavriki jumped into the conclusion that he is dead?" opposed Maurien.  
"Your highness," said Darshani. "It's not my place to discuss the late prince's death like this. The fact that today is his sixth death anniversary doesn't mean that you have to bring up this topic and try to get your family to reopen the case of your late brother."  
"But then again, the case isn't fully solved, considering that there could be a chance that he could be--"  
"Your highness, you have no proof of anything to prove the fact that your late brother could be alive. Your father's decision to cease the search and deem him dead due to the lack of evidence is reasonable."  
"But his assumption of saying his son is dead is unreasonable! Now because of that, the people of Raiona have lost trust in us, unless we clear the air."  
Darshani snapped, "Enough, Maurien!"  
Darshani's sudden outburst left Maurien paralysed in fear. Darshani recovered his composure and apologized, "I am so sorry I snapped. I suggest we shouldn't discuss this. Luckily, your father, or worst, Mavriki, isn't here to hear this."

-End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2 Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kayli finds out that Derora has been stricken with amnesia and is on the pursuit of her lost memories where with Derora's presence, it has caused an unlikely turn..

Chapter 2 :

PART 1

Derora is pulled deeper into the sea. Attempts to reach the surface was an impossible task. She began to lose consciousness in her battle to tread through the water until a faint voice echoed through, “Derora.”

It was the voice of a young boy in his preteens, leading Derora out of a blank trance. His silhouette reveals him cradling onto a damaged doll.

"I am sorry," sobbed the boy.

Derora called out, seeking to know who he was. "Hello? Have we met before?"

“Why, why do you have to make my life so miserable!” retorted the boy.

The boy's allusive remark befogged Derora's mind. He soon disappeared, but the ringing of his voice remained. "Derora, it's all your fault!"

\---

Derora jumped off the bed, heavily gasping for air, realising it was just a dream. "Who was that?" thought Derora.

Derora withdrew herself from her bed and drew out the curtains. A view of a city buzzing with people and warm sunlight greeted her morning. She has never seen a beautiful view of a modern landscape in her life. Just then, Kayli entered the room.

"Derora?"

Derora turned around to see Kayli at the door, dressed in a white camisole and blue shorts, complete with a floral embossed silk blue robe.

Kayli rubbed her eyes and grabbed Derora's hand, "Come downstairs. Breakfast is ready."

Derora followed but noticed Maurien was nowhere in sight. "Where's your friend? The boy who was with you last night."

"He went home," said Kayli, letting go of Derora's hand to tie a messy bun. "He had a curfew."

The two settled in the dining room where food was prepared and ready to be eaten. The selection was rather simple—a plate of warm white bread toasts, a serving of scrambled eggs and bacon, and a set of condiments of butter and ketchup.

Derora hesitantly scooped the food onto her plate and waited for Kayli to commence their meal in prayer, but Kayli was preoccupied scraping the last bits of scrambled eggs onto the bread. "I know, it's not as fancy when dad isn’t around." 

Kayli proceeded to devour her meal and beckoned Derora to eat. 

Derora took her first bite but was still observant of her surroundings. Out of the corner of her eye, she espied empty chairs positioned at the other side of the table. "Where are your parents?" asked Derora.

"Oh, Dad's overseas as always," sputtered Kayli, munching on her toast. "He'll be gone for a few weeks or maybe months to oversee some things somewhere. Maurien's dad could have handled it, but he became ill, so dad took over. Dad's probably pleased to manage overseas affairs 'cause he's been avoiding Muarien's dad.”

"What happened?"

"That is between Maurien's dad and my dad, Derora."

"How about your mother. Where is she?"

Kayli shook her head, "She passed on a long time ago. Before I was born actually."

"So, your mother is not your real mother?"

"Bingo! I am adopted. I don't have my parents as you do."

"Why are you adopted?"

"My dad, well, or should I say a nice nobleman named Mikaere Democritus adopted me when I was a baby. I was a healthy baby back then, but my parents left me for good. Mikaere lost his wife and stillborn child around the same time I was born, so he took me in as a replacement."

Derora was impressed and leaned in closer to Kayli. "How is it like being raised in such a wealthy family?"

"It's good...and bad. I can enjoy privileges like shopping discounts, but contrarily, I am adopted, so I’m not eligible to inherit my dad's name. And because I am not a Democritus by blood, I am much hated by my adoptive paternal family. My adoptive maternal family heard about the situation and were nice enough to give me their family name, Esparenza, to make me feel part of the family. I wish to be with my maternal family now, but my dad is like the world's strictest single parent."

Derora, in awe, remained silent and nodded her head politely.

Kayli then began to imitate her adoptive father's regal nobleman voice, quoting what he said to her maternal relatives. "I am the one who adopted Kaylista, so she has to be in this house, and I make all the decisions!”

"Your name is Kaylista?" asked Derora.

Kayli got up from her seat and gave Deora a handshake as a reintroduction. "Kaylista Esparenza, nice to meet ya."

"Your real name sounds very...classy," commented Derora.

"Oh please," scoffed Kayli. "It would be more classy if I have a middle name...oh wait, middle names are only for those in royal families.”

Kayli recalled a similarity between her and Derora and wandered to a different topic. "Derora, foster care, am I right?"

Derora shot up in attention. "Ah yes, but how did you know?" 

“Well, I know,” shrugged Kayli. "Did you and your foster family have a problem?"

Derora shook her head. "No, not at all."

"Then what makes you come to Raiona?"

"I..., well...basically, I forced myself to leave due to this long-time motive of mine, and somehow, I ended up here," said Derora.

Kayli’s eyes widened, prying to know more about Derora's so-called motive. "Ooooh, what is it?"

“This better not be about the money,” thought Kayli at the back of her mind.

"I, I lost my memory, and I need to find answers."

The atmosphere in the room was held in suspension before Kayli could have a full grasp of the situation. "Wait, you have amnesia?"

Derora nodded, "From the age of 9 till now."

Kayli started to show signs of concern. "How long has it been?"

Derora counted and showed ten fingers. "10 years."

Kayli's jaws dropped. "That's a hell of long, meaning to say that you're 19 now. Have you been going for therapies? Counselling? Reaching out to doctors?”

Derora shook her head. “No, none of that.”

Kayli gawped at Derora, “Your foster care didn’t bother to help you in your memory finding, not even taking you on a simple trip to the doctor?”

“They told me to leave it and move on, but I feel that I needed to know at least something about my past. Bits and pieces began to surface in the past months, so I knew I had to escape to know what they are. I was close to being caught when I fled the foster home, and the closest thing that I saw was a ship, so I snuck into it. I didn’t know where it was heading, but all I remember was I felt the ship rocking violently, and somehow we got shipwrecked, and I ended up here.”

Kayli, overloaded with information, assiduously summarised Derora’s story of unfortunate events. “So, let me get this straight. You left because your foster care is a bitch in not helping you find your memories. You managed to escape despite them tracking you down till you stumbled across a ship, snuck inside and a storm later, here you are, free as a bird. Huh, that's very Derora." 

“That’s right. Now I am left in my own devices,” resented Derora.

Kayli rubbed Derora's back, giving her assurance that everything will be fine. “Well, you got me. I can't guarantee that you will find your memories here, but we’ll see about that. I mean I can help you out, but first, you need to tell me what were the flashbacks about and we can get to work.”

Derora threw her arms around Kayli in gratitude. “Thank you so much, Kayli."

“Great!” hailed Kayli. “I believe you will find the answer soon enough with my help.”

Then, a thought struck Kayli, “Wait, how on earth are we going to start this?”

\----

Back at the royal residence, Maurien, dressed in a silver silk tailcoat, brownish-yellow shirt, a green sash around his waist, black pants and elaborate knee-length gold-laced up black boots, was making his way to breakfast. Trudging through the halls, he thought, "I hope Kayli isn't mad about what happened last night. What’s worse is I am not mentally prepared to get a lecture from brother.” He froze by the door, took a deep breath, and entered, braced to face the consequences of his actions.

There, Mavriki was seated on his chair with his nose stuck onto a green leather-bound book. Darshani, who was standing by Mavriki’s side, watched Maurien saunter into the room towards Mavriki. 

Maurien gave a low bow, greeting his brother, "Good morning, brother."

No response.

Maurien tipped his head towards Mavriki and peeked into what he was reading. The pages of the tome were wrinkled and had its words handwritten, appearing to be a document from the royal archives. It records the long-running family dynasty, aiding Mavriki to serve his royal duties. Maurien was surprised by his brother’s sudden intention of reading a book. Mavriki was never a bookworm. After taking a quick scan, he placidly drew himself away from Mavriki and sat opposite him.

It was only then that Mavriki sensed Maurien’s presence. He passed his book to Darshani and immediately glared at Maurien.

At that moment, Maurien was sure he would get some lecture from his brother. "Shoot, he is going to bring it up," muttered Maurien under his breath as he was being served with food by the servants. He clenched his hands together, jerked his body forward and avoided eye contact with Mavriki, hoping that he wouldn't address anything physical.

"It was brought to my attention that you snuck out to see that minx of an Esperanza. Maurien, how many times will I have to tell you to avoid that ill-mannered girl? Even if she's Mikaere's daughter, she's still a bad example," rebuked Mavriki.

"But, she came to look for me, Mavriki," justified Maurien. "I didn't ask her to come to our premises--"

"Maurien, this is not a laughing matter,” interfered Mavriki. “You got careless, you got caught, but at least no civilian saw you in the middle of the night. What if someone other than Darshani saw you? That could ruin your reputation as a prince, and you will bring shame to this family!”

Mavriki then berated Maurien about his rugged clothing when he snuck out. “Who in their right mind would decide to wear only their underclothing out? I mean that ensemble on you is terrible. Terrible! Cheap garments go underneath luxurious pieces of clothing. You understand?”

"I am old enough to make my own decisions," countered Maurien, plopping sugar cubes from the sugar bowl into his hot cup of tea.

"But you're still my baby brother, and you have to listen to me," belted Mavriki. "So, what did you and that adopted pet of Democritus do last night?"

Discomfited by his brother’s criticism against Kayli, Maurien corrected him, "Her name is Kayli, Mavriki."

Mavriki's eyes narrowed. "I don't care. What did you two kids do anyway?"

Maurien, wide-eyed, choked on his food. "Ka-Kayli and I were doing things the civilians in Raiona normally do. Y'know, hang out." He thought a simple answer would save his secret about Derora, but Mavriki demanded more information.

"And...?"

Maurien was prompted to spill bits of fibs, "Well, we happened to have another person during our hang out…a friend of Kayli’s.”

Mavriki raised his eyebrows, curious to know a little about the said friend. “Another peasant adoptive pet?”

"No, she isn’t adopted."

"What's her name?"

"Her name is Derora."

\---

Back in the Democritus estate, Derora awaits for a new set of clothes from Kayli. The maid came into the room with a pile of clothes and passed Derora one to try on. 

Derora held it up onto her chest and looked into the mirror. “Are they in my size?”

“Lady Kaylista is a size 8, and her shoe size is a 7.”

“I guess that’s alright. We share the same shoe size, but I'm not sure about the clothes.”

“Well, let’s see if it fits.”

Derora proceeded to put it on—a mesh black and blue skater dress, a navy blue cardigan and black knee-length heel boots. Derora seemed satisfied about its fitting but was squirmy about her new look. “The skirt is a little too short, but I guess the length of this cardigan would cover up my legs.”

Derora checked herself in the mirror and noticed that her clothes were being taken away by the maid. She rushed over to grab her tattered dress back and reached into the pockets for her makeup, but it was empty.

“What’s the problem, Derora?”

Derora remained unresponsive, searching high and low for her left possessions. Rummaging through the furniture, she spotted her makeup placed neatly on the bedside table and let out a sigh of relief. She picked up the compact powder and applied rosy beige foundation and coats of mascara on her face.

“Oh, that’s what you’re looking for,” exclaimed the maid.

However, Derora noticed that one of her cosmetic items was still missing. “Oh no, where is my lipstick?” cried Derora, digging through every possible compartment, but to no avail.

“It must have slipped out of my pocket when the shipwreck happened,” gasped Derora. She left her room, dismayed.

Up across the hallway was Kayli’s bedroom. Derora found Kayli, dressed in full denim, spritzing makeup setting spray onto her face. She knocked, "Kayli?"

"Yeah?" aired Kayli, now engrossed on her phone, checking her flooded message inbox. "Come in.”

Derora entered and took a glance of the room. She was surprised by the brimming collection of punk rock posters hung on the walls. The room's peculiarity made Derora uncomfortable.

"Do you happen to have extra lipstick?" asked Derora.

"I do," said Kayli. She reached out to her vanity drawer filled with makeup products as if she was an influencer (which she is not, in this case, #unsponsoredmakeup). "Which colour are you thinkin’?"

"Pink. A light pink lipstick."

Kayli swung out a navy bullet lipstick and passed it to Derora. "I hope this matches you. I only used it once as I didn't like the colour.”

"Thank you," said Derora. She twisted the lipstick out and was bemused to see a mauve-pink shade. "It's a little too dark. Are there any other pink lipsticks you have?"

Kayli sighed as she dug further. "That's the only 'light' pink I have."

"Oh, then it's alright." Derora swiped a little on her lips but was startled by her hideous appearance.

Kayli walked over and noticed the pop of colour on Derora's lips and squealed in excitement. "You look stunning! You should wear that colour often!"

Derora stared into the mirror and nodded along.

Kayli then scanned through Derora's whole ensembled and exclaimed, “Oh, you’re wearing my old clothes! I wanted to exchange those for membership points at a clothing swap thrift store, but you look great.”

“Thanks?” uttered Derora. “Your room looks a little...a little...”

“Crazy? Yeah, I know. I had some guests come over and asked why I like these hard rock stuff. Not everyone has a pretty room like you imagined. You know what, you look great, I look great, so let's have our lunch now.”

They walked through the diamond blue hallway with coloured portraits of varying sizes and shapes hung on the walls. One was a portrait of young Kayli and her adoptive father and another a photo of Kayli in her graduation gown. Pictures in the colour scheme of grayscale and sepia also filled the walls.

One caught Derora’s eyes. She peered through it and saw a photograph of Kayli’s father and a couple. The woman in the photo was carrying a child in her arms, who seemed to look like her. “Is that me? But, I--”

The ring of a doorbell interrupted Derora’s train of thoughts.

Kayli, on the other hand, was annoyed to have an uninvited guest. "Great! Who is it this time? An ex-boyfriend of mine who wants to apologise?!" groaned Kayli who stomped down the stairs, looking to give them a piece of her mind. Her fuming expression immediately changed when she opened the door to see Maurien. "Maurien. What are you doing here? I thought that bratty brother of yours banned you from seeing me?”

Behind Maurien was the same black limousine that came the previous day, and Kayli spotted Darshani in the driver’s seat. "Let me guess. Mavee wants to reprimand me and brought you here to take me to the palace for the execution,” groaned Kayli, folding her arms. "What does that pampered bastard want? Punish me for 'kidnapping' a Prince, unharmed?"

Maurien replied in a calm tone, "He sent me to fetch you…and Derora."

"Wait, how did he know that Derora is here?” pondered Kayli. “You told him!”

Maurien couldn’t help but give a slow nod, "I will explain later on the way. Is Derora around?"

"Yes, she hasn't left. Let me fetch her down."

Kayli turned around, startled to see Derora standing so close to her. “Ah, there you are!” said Kayli.

"I heard my name. Is that Maureen?" asked Derora.

“Maurien, my dear. Even though a lot of people call me that at first impression.”

\---

On the way to the royal palace, Derora had her head stuck onto the window, observing the passing surroundings.

"Derora, do you know of a person named Mavriki?" asked Maurien, pulling Derora out of her daze.

"Mavriki? No, I don't think I've met a person named Mavriki. What about him?”

Kayli jumped in and began to trash talk about him, giving Derora the starter facts. "A lot of things! See, Mavee is a spoiled brat and a diva who has the best of everything; you name it. A shitload of designer items as well as anything gold, even the edible ones. He’s a pampered spoiled brat that gave Raiona cancer after his dad got sick and has to be in charge as a proxy. And now Maurien’s brother wants to see both our asses for no reason unless it's that reason for deporting me for good for a stupid reason."

Derora shifted her gaze to Maurien. "You have a brother?"

"Yes, and another who passed on many years ago," said Maurien.

Derora lowered her head. "I am sorry to hear that your other brother passed away.”

Maurien reassured her, 'No, no! It's fine! Don't worry about it, Derora."

Kayli came in and posed a question, "What does Mavee have to do with Derora?"

"I don’t know. We'll know once we get there,” shrugged Maurien.

Kayli began to formulate scenarios in her head. "Derora and I are going to be deported, considering that I am a menace and she's an illegal immigrant now that Mavee made his little brother spill the beans?"

"He wanted to know what I did yesterday with you ‘cause he was pretty furious with you taking me out without his knowledge."

Kayli raised her eyebrow. "Sounds like a child who went to a nightclub underaged but didn’t get wasted."

"But, when I mentioned Derora's name, Mavriki calmed down immediately which means he could have heard about Derora before so he asked me to bring her and you to him and he will explain everything from there."

Derora cut in, "The thing is I don't know if I have met Mavriki."

Maurien was puzzled and jerked his towards Derora. “What do you mean by that?”

"Derora has amnesia, and it could mean that he probably met her before this whole amnesia thing happened," glossed Kayli.

“Derora...is amnesic? There could be a chance that this Derora could have met Mavriki and me before."

"Wait, what?" quizzed Kayli. "What makes you think of that?"

"Well, to me, the name 'Derora' sounds very eerily familiar as the name once belonged to that of--"

Before Maurien could continue, the car came into a halt. Darshani got off from the driver's seat and opened the car door. Derora realised that she's in the premise of a palace.

"This is your home?" remarked Derora, astonished by the fancy exteriors of the house.

"I know it's very grand, but yep it's my home."

“I noticed Mavee has gotten some renovations done," remarked Kayli, examining the countless amounts of gold all around as well as the addition of a rebuilt water fountain.

"He had the palace painted and designed in his colour scheme," said Maurien. "His feverish anticipation for his coronation day has even made him get his coronation outfits laid out for the private ceremony.”

Kayli rolled her eyes, “Of course, typical Mavriki. Please tell me Mav is not inviting me for the coronation."

"Well, I am afraid so. The invitations have been sorted out by my father years in advance."

"I am going to play sick that day,” groaned Kayli.

"You're that of royalty?" asked Derora.

"Duh! All I hope for Mavriki is to fall ill so that little Mau Mau will take the throne,” exclaimed Kayli.

"Don't say that Kayli!" warned Maurien.

"Wow, I didn't know you are a prince," chirped Derora.

Maurien gave a sheepish smile, "I don’t look like a prince to you?"

Derora shook her head, “Not at a first impression. Your outfit last night didn’t say so.”

“Well, that’s because I didn’t want to be caught by my brother.”

Darshani noticed that Maurien, Kayli and Derora were still loitering outside and gave them a firm reminder, "Prince Maurien and guests, Sir Mavriki is waiting."

"Yes, coming!" said Maurien.

Darshani escorted the trio into the tea room filled with marbled furniture. "I shall retire from the room," sounded Darshani, shutting the door.

Maurien and Derora sat down at the round tea table. An array of sweet and savoury pastries and high-end teabags accompanied the lavish setting of gold plated teapots, teacups and plates. 

"This food seems a lot fancier from the last time I was here with dad. There were only pre-packaged biscuits and tea," commented Kayli as she examined the victuals before she settled in her seat. 

"Hey, I’ve never seen this around," pointed Kayli at the plate of charcoal croissants and cookies finished with edible gold.

"Oh, that?" noticed Maurien. "Those are what we serve to those of royalty who are visiting."

"Those of royalty? But, I am not of royalty," differed Kayli. There were no other royals in the premise except for Maurien and Mavriki, but her intuition pointed her to make suspicions about Derora. “Unless--”

The door swung open. Mavriki made his ostentatious entrance as Maurien, Kayli and Derora stood to make their salutations.

Maurien stepped forward to kiss Mavriki’s hand, “Brother.”

Maurien turned to Derora and said, “Derora, this is my older brother, Mavriki.”

Mavriki gave Derora a polite bow. As their eyes met, an image popped into her head—the dream she had that morning.

"Could the boy in my dream be him? He looks just like him." thought Derora. To her, there is a resemblance between them, except Mavriki is a tad older.

Kayli noticed Derora in deep thought and called her out, “Derora?”

Derora looked up and realised they were waiting for her to speak. "Sorry, I just thought of something."

Maurien asked, "Brother, how did you know Derora?"

"What did we do? And what has Derora got to do with this? Is she somehow related to you?" catechised Kayli.

"I am close to kithing you with the last warning from polluting my little brother’s royal status,” alerted Mavriki, trading his stern appearance to a broad smile, "but you and my little brother descried a rare gem."

"Huh?" mouthed Kayli. 

Mavriki shifted his focus to Derora and kissed the back of her hand before meeting her eye to eye. "It's a miracle you are alive once again, your Majesty, Princess Derora Annette Celice."

"Celice…That's the family name of the late royal family of Celine!" gushed Maurien.

“Hold the press, she’s a princess?!” sputtered Kayli.

"And the last living Celine royal left!" declared Mavriki. “There was no possibility that a member of the Celice family had survived, but here is Derora.”

"No wonder the name Derora sounds familiar," thought Maurien. "It's because it's the name of the late heiress of the Kingdom of Celine, alive all this while."

The rampant babels of the group left Derora stupefied. "I am a…Princess?" stammered Derora, pointing to herself.

"What did you say? Of course, you’re a princess!" affirmed Mavriki.

"But..."

"Hold on, how is it that you didn't know?" Mavriki’s mouth dropped. He turned to Kayli with a hostile gaze, "What did you do to her?"

Kayli took Mavriki’s brusque remarks as a personal affront. "I didn't do anything to her, your highness. I am not some witch who cast a voodoo spell on an innocent girl like Derora. Derora came in with--"

Maurien chimed in before Kayli and Mavriki could set a vehement squabble. "Derora has amnesia!"

Mavriki was staggered. "Is it true? Are you diagnosed with amnesia?"

Derora nodded her head in perplexion.

“Why don't we sit down and talk about this? Maurien told me that he and Kayli found you by the shores of our private summer home."

Derora remained in the state of disquietude.

"Derora, are you alright?" It was then when Mavriki began to show signs of concern, giving her a warm affectionate hug.

Kayli observed Mavriki, imperceptible about his odd behaviour. She whispered to Maurien, who was eating a cookie. "I have never seen this side of Mavriki before. He used to be such a spoiled brat, but now he’s a soft brat."

Mavriki held Derora’s shoulders firmly. "It's fine that you lost your memories. You will get them back eventually. What if I told you that you and I were once close?"

"Oh my god," mouthed Kayli to Maurien who didn't seem too surprised.

Derora flapped her slender finger between her and Mavriki. “Us? Close?”

"Yes, we met when you were a baby, and we became close friends when we were little children."

Maurien avouched, “To be honest brother, I never actually recall you with Derora--”

"Don’t ruin the moment of our reunion, Maurien," hushed Mavriki.

Mavriki turned his attention to Derora again, and with a smooth voice, he resumed, "As I was saying, you and I used to be close. Both of us visited each other’s kingdoms where we spent some time together be it a royal ball, a luncheon or a birthday party.“

Derora jumped with hope in her eyes. "Is it possible to take me there?"

"Take you where?" choked Mavriki.

"To my home," exclaimed Derora, giving out a quivery smile as she looked forward to seeing her home for the first time in a long time. "I want to see what my home looks like; the Kingdom of Celine."

"Derora, I am afraid to break it to you, but there's no chance that you will ever get to go to your Kingdom," denoted Maurien.

“What are you talking about?"

Kayli hung her head low. "A lot that you may not want to hear."

"What is it?" inquired Derora, curious to know why all three of them sounded like they were bearing bad news.

Mavriki held Derora’s hand. "Derora, we hate to tell you this, but Celine exists no more. It was burnt down."

Derora fell off her chair. A flashback segued her mind where she saw buildings engulfed in flames and a frenzy of people fleeing the kingdom. Soon enough, the fire consumed her. She stood aghast, not even able to mouth a word or move a joint.

"Derora!" buzzed Mavriki, jerking her body back and forth to consciousness.

Derora gazed into Mavriki’s eyes and began to hyperventilate.

“Darshani!” screamed Mavriki. “Get the royal medic immediately! Derora is experiencing a panic attack!”

\---

Out in the living room were Kayli and Maurien who waited worriedly for the news on Derora.

After much suspense, Mavriki returned, looking relieved.

Maurien rushed to Mavriki, looking jittery. "How's Derora?"

"She's alright. She only had a minor panic attack, nothing major. Let's give her space to breathe for a bit. She's inside if you want to see her. I have matters to settle at the last minute, so will you entertain her on my behalf, brother?" With that, Mavriki left in a hurry. 

Kayli broke her silence now that Mavriki was no longer with them. "I’ve never seen Mavriki so concerned about someone apart from his money, possessions and his designer clothes."

"I, too, have never seen Mavriki this way. I never knew Derora and Mavriki were that close."

The medic cleared off the room, prompting Kayli and Maurien to sneak in.

“Thank god, you are okay!” exclaimed Kayli.

Derora mumbled, "I am alright. Just a little meltdown and a trip down memory lane."

Kayli perceived that Derora had a terrible vision, so she didn’t bother imposing a question about it. She passed Derora a piece of cookie from the tearoom in the attempt to lift a smile on her face, but Derora politely declined. Instead, Derora reached out for the glass of water on her bedside table and took a sip. Her bottom lip began to tremble, and tears welled up in her eyes. "Not only was my home burnt down, but the whole of my Kingdom as well.”

Kayli sat on the edge of Derora’s bed and gave her a warm hug. "I am sorry that you had to hear that, Derora."

"I thought I would live a normal life, only to find out I am a Princess."

"At least you have us now," comforted Maurien, brushing Derora's hair behind her ears, "though I am not certain about what's going to happen."

“I want to know the full story. What happened back then?” questioned Derora.

Maurien sighed in hesitation and recounted the tale. "Ten years ago, the Royal Carnage, as we call it, set the whole Kingdom of Celine ablaze. A few hundred people survived, but the fire consumed those that remained. Based on a joint investigation with Neo and Adhaya, we found proof that the fire originated from the motive of only one main target: the royal family. As of now, we are still unable to uncover who the real perpetrator was. We can say that he is still on the loose.”

"The culprit sure had a mighty investment and a long time planning to get that executed. They must be a smart ass in not leaving their tracks behind," added Kayli. "Derora, if you are alive, how did you end up in that dreaded foster care of yours?"

"I don't know."

Kayli listed out a few scenarios that could have happened. "Either you ran away from the fire and hit your head somehow that made you amnesic, and then your foster family found you or, the culprit could have knocked you with a drug that caused your amnesia.”

"I think the first part was the likely cause of Derora's amnesia," remarked Maurien. Don't you think so?"

"But, the foster care said I was alright when they found me except I was unconscious."

Derora's words were interrupted by Mavriki’s arrival.

Kayli folded her arms and turned her body towards Mavriki. "Well, that's quick."

He cleared his throat and laid out a plan to how arrangements will be. "I know it's a little too early for you to assimilate all the information about your past Derora, but by immediate effect, you have to stay under the care of the Royal House of Raiona.”

Kayli rose from Derora’s bed, ticked by Mavriki’s declaration of custody. "Oh, no, no, no. Derora has been staying with me since the day Maurien and I found her. Besides, she doesn’t mind staying with me.”

"I am sorry, pet," redressed Mavriki "Derora will now be residing with me. She is a princess, and princesses like her deserve the utmost care."

Kayli, appalled by Mavriki’s impudent speech, stepped closer. "Excuse me, you pompous nit twit. I am pretty sure Derora doesn't mind staying with a low-class adopted pet."

"Kayli, get a hold of yourself!” chided Maurien.

"I can stay with Kayli. I will be alright," interposed Derora.

“No, Derora,” disapproved Mavriki. "Considering that you are the last living royal of the perished Royal House of Celince, it is needful for you to stay under the care of the Royal House of Raiona.”

Kayli let out a 'hmph', spilling facts out to Derora. "Doesn't sound like the Mavriki I know. Knowing that he's a brat and demands aggressively at whatever he wants, you wouldn’t want to be near that thing screaming.”

"Say that again, will you?” demanded Mavriki, back to his usual bratty voice. "How about we make a little deal? I take Derora from your little bunker, and you get to acquire unlimited visits here without the need for my consent. You like to sneak in to kidnap my little brother, so take it as a reward for finding Derora for me. Deal?"

Kayli folded her arms and raised an eyebrow, unconvinced at his offer. 

Mavriki let out a light groan, "What else do you want before we close the deal?” " 

"Oh, something you should know yourself from years back."

Mavriki took a step closer towards Kayli, looked directly into her eyes, and apologised. "Accept my plea of forgiveness, Lady Kaylista Esparenza. I confess that our petty squabbles have led to needless name-calling, and I am guilty of that. Nevertheless, I am indeed delighted and grateful that you and Maurien have rescued Derora. I could have pressed charges to deport you out of this kingdom, but the recent rediscovery of Derora have elevated them. Can we set aside closure?”

Kayli succumbed and immediately agreed, "Okay, deal. She’s all yours."

Mavriki smirked, "Thank you, Kayli. For complying to that and saving Derora, I shall bestow you a reward of half a million grand.”

Mavriki’s unanticipated offer became music to Kayli’s ears. “500,000 Raionai, for real?”

“100% authentic,” assured Mavriki. “I will only need to make immediate arrangements with the bank to credit the money into your bank account.”

“I want cash,” negotiated Kayli. “My bank account has been frozen alongside a confiscated credit card.”

Mavriki sighed, but complied, “Sounds like a Mezzo peasant in deep debt. I'm certain that you ticked your father off over some money matters, so I shall grant you the cash, all encased in a customised money briefcase from one of my favourite royal ateliers. Free of charge.”

“This is the first time you were very generous to someone. Thank you, your majesty.”

“You’re welcome. So far, you're one of the exceptions who deserve such a grand award.”

Mavriki turned to Derora and took her by the hand. "Let me bring you on a tour of the palace, Derora. My dear distinguished guest needs to feel welcomed.

Kayli watched them leave the room before letting out an outburst. “Rude! But, at least he apologised for the things made in the past."

"I believe with Derora present, you and Mavriki have made peace with your differences,” noted Maurien.


	3. Chapter 2 Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Derora's identity established as the last living royal of the perished Royal House of Celine, she is now under the custody of the Royal House of Raiona where it attracted the attention of some of its members..

A line of household maids and butlers awaited Mavriki and Derora at the foot of the stairs. It wasn’t like a magical fairytale scene at all as you would have thought, but chatters of adoration and chatters of contemptuousness hailed the royals.  
Chatters of adoration like,  
"Is it true? Princess Derora is alive? That's good news!"  
And chatters of contemptuousness like,  
  
"The prince most likely hired a look alike. We all know the real Princess Derora and her family are dead."  
Mavriki sensed the unruly discordances of the servants and forthwith, began to elucidate the situation, starting by clapping his hands high to gather their attention. “May I have your attention please?”  
The commotion ceased, causing everyone to shoot their attention towards Mavriki and Derora.  
“Right, so where do I begin? Ah yes, I would like to introduce a brand new occupant of the royal household, Princess Derora Celice. Her unexpected arrival has gotten my attention, so I decided to provide her with accommodation here under the care of the RHR. Please do make her feel at home. I will be giving the Princess a personal house tour, so in the meantime, resume with your chores.”  
The servants bowed and returned to their duties...and their chatters.  
"I have never seen Prince Mavriki so kind and polite towards anyone."  
"Oh? Now that Princess is here, Mavriki has a change of heart?"  
Derora gazed at the servants as she and Mavriki headed up the stairs. "What are they talking about?"  
Mavriki painted a smirk on his face. "Don't worry about it, Princess. It's just them being gossipy.”  
"I prefer to be called just Derora. The fact that I am a princess now hasn’t sunken into my thoughts yet.”  
"You need to get used to your royal title. Everyone can't simply call you by your first name without a royal title. But if you’re with me, Maurien or Kayli, we'll call you Derora. Now, let’s not dawdle and begin the house tour, shall we?”  
Both scavenged through every corner of the palace including the glass garden house off the main building which harbours exotic species of plants, an indoor swimming pool decorated with ancient greek structures and marbled flooring, and eight compartments of bathhouses inspired by healing stones. As enthusiastic as Mavriki was in presenting and detailing every origin and inspiration of the rooms, Derora began to doze off till alas, both have reached the final destination of the tour.  
"This new bedroom is all yours for the rest of your stay here.”  
It was an en suite room with pastel blue walls, velveteen-carpeted floor, a small lounge area and a queen size bed in white silk sheets.  
Derora, awestruck, slowly spun around the room and grazed her hands through the furniture. “I never had a room like this to myself,” exclaimed Derora.  
"I can request for modifications to this room if you have any,” grinned Mavriki. He wandered around the room with his arms akimbo, trying his hardest to think what would be best to add to Derora’s liking. "How about I change the fancy bedsheets to that of simple blue silk and a vanity table? Is that okay with you, Derora?"  
Derora beamed with ardour, “Sure, I don’t mind!”  
"I can ask the household staff to order a silver vanity table made by one of the best royal-approved furniture sellers.”  
"Why silver?"  
"It's one of the colours that represent Celine apart from sapphire blue, and it befits a Celine royal like you."  
Now that he mentioned it, Mavriki's eyes caught the sight of Derora’s outfit.  
"Urgh your outfit," grunted Mavriki, sounding like a fashionista critiquing an outfit. “I hate it. Please do not tell me the clothes were worn before by someone else.”  
Derora looked down on her outfit. "What's wrong with it?"  
Mavriki shook his head in disapproval, scrutinising the getup as if he saw rags clothed on Derora.  
"It looks…horrible, urgh. We need to change that horrible ensemble of yours. I don’t want my darling Derora in nothing but disgusting peasant clothing.”  
Derora flapped her skirt and said, "I am okay with this. I don't think there shouldn't be a need of letting the people know that I am--"  
Mavriki pretended to faint. "Derora, I do not want your identity of being a plain commoner be diluting your royal lineage. Your parents will drop dead, even up in heaven, seeing what their daughter is wearing!”  
Derora caved in and nodded along.  
"Come along. I have prepared some outfits the moment I heard about your arrival.”  
  
Mavriki led Derora into a room filled with clothing racks all filled with clothes in the colour scheme of silver and sapphire blue, alongside matching accessories, shoes and jewellery.   
Derora’s eyes widened, awestruck by the whole collection. “I can’t wear all of these at once.”  
"I know but rest assured, I will send the rest of the clothes back to their respective designers once you have picked out the clothes you want."  
Derora went over to scan the clothes on the racks, running her hands through it. She can’t seem to choose out of a million selections. “I never was given so many choices like this before. I didn’t usually have a choice at foster care. They only give whatever there is.”  
“Well, Derora, you’re spoilt of choice.”  
  
Derora surveyed through the racks and fished out a black and blue dress with a Queen Anne collar and silver embellishments.  
Mavriki clasped his hands together and exclaimed, "Good choice! This one is an article of two-piece clothing and designed by one of the best fashion ateliers in Raiona, which I believe is a Celicnean. The outfit is a possible tribute to her superiors.”  
Mavriki pointed to the top layer of the outfit. “The blue area of the outfit is outerwear, and the zipper is behind. Would you like to try it on?"  
Derora nodded where Mavriki then signalled the female maids to help her get dressed within the changing screen.  
After much anticipation, Derora came out, sporting the dress.  
Mavriki froze for one moment until a broad smile appeared. "You look beautiful, darling."  
Derora turned to look in the mirror and was satisfied.  
Mavriki stared at Derora through the mirror, almost shedding a tear at how sophisticated Derora was until he noticed her awful-looking footwear. "I think a pair of blue satin thigh-high boots would complete the outfit nicely."  
Derora remained at her spot as the assistants removed the black knee-length boots off her feet and put a two-tone black and blue satin boots on her, zipping them up with a back zipper on each shoe.  
"Do you need any accessories like jewellery?" asked Mavriki, who flicked his permed locks.  
"Also, your hair is a bit too plain. Would you like to have your hair done? Maybe a fresh perm like mine.”  
Derora declined politely, "No, I prefer my hair to be just like this."  
Mavriki displayed a theatrical sulk on his face as a response to Derora.  
"Tell me more about the Kingdoms," digressed Derora.  
Startled by the sudden change of topic, Mavriki’s doleful expression immediately turned into a quizzical look. "Why did you ask that question? You should know by now that--"  
"Kayli mentioned something about it, and I‘m confused. My foster care didn't say anything about these Kingdoms," claimed Derora.  
Mavriki gave a light nod, perceiving that Derora’s memory is not clear. "Alright, Derora. Since you asked, I'll tell you."  
Mavriki led Derora to his study—towering with shelves neatly and well-organised. Almost every wooden furniture in the room was plated in gold, exuberating a baroque aura. On Mavriki's brass table lied a large hologram screen and a halo keyboard.  
  
Next to them were a pile of booklets, all seemingly looking the same—green-dyed leather-bound design with an embossment of the Raionan crest on it. Derora noticed the stack and pointed at them. "Are these all your work?"  
Mavriki composed himself with a quick answer, "Yes, I am handling the administrative work of the house on behalf of my ill father, so these are just old archival work that I need to review later.”  
Mavriki’s emerald eyes caught sight of a photo frame sitting on his desk. He grabbed and showed it to Derora. "Derora, look what I found!"  
The photo depicted a young girl, with brunette hair and blue eyes, wearing a blue frilly dress and a boy, with ebony hair and emerald eyes, dressed in an argyle suit.  
Derora looked at it and lifted her head towards Mavriki, who was beaming from ear to ear. Mavriki slowly slid his hand on Derora's waist.  
Derora leaned back and gave a weirded out nervous look. "Is everything alright, Mavriki?"  
Mavriki realised that his hand was on Derora’s waist and withdrew immediately. "I just miss you."  
Derora swerved away from Mavriki and kept her eyes glued on the other photos on the desk and picked up one of them. She asked, "What was it like when I was gone?"  
Mavriki clenched his teeth and tilted his head down. "Terrible."  
A cloud of gloom filled the atmosphere before Mavriki continued. "While you were gone, it was so hard to cope without you around. Oh gosh, do remind me why we are in my study?"  
"About the Kingdoms."  
"Ah, yes!" said Mavriki, breaking out of his delirium. He moved over to his desk and bent his body to type on his keyboard with his long slender fingers. A big hologram screen flashed before their eyes. Five separate screens were spread across the room with each in different colour codes.  
Mavriki pointed at the furthest screen to the left—a purple hologram elucidating an emblem horizontally-striped in purple, gold and silver with an image of an orchid flower in the centre.  
"And this is where we are. Raiona. The Second Kingdom of Raiona. We are well-known for our technology. My father Alekai Raiona is currently ruling the kingdom, but has to relinquish the crown to me should there be no improvement in his health.”  
"When will you become King?”  
"Soon. We haven't pinpointed a date, but it should be soon."  
Mavriki then swiped his finger to the blue screen with an emblem of royal blue, white and silver accompanied by a lily.  
"This is your Kingdom. The Third Kingdom of Celine. Celine was a Kingdom with a vast knowledge of the Arts such as dance and music. Your father, Darius Celice, was the ruler alongside your mother, Queen Demi Celice."  
Mavriki then typed on his keyboard where a family photo popped on the hologram screen. "These are your parents."  
Derora looked over, seeing a close view of her late parents in full colour—the same people she saw on the small portrait in Kayli’s home. Her father, blue-eyed and brown-haired, was in a blue blazer and silver trousers and a silver crown adorned with sapphires and diamonds. Her mother, dark brown-haired and silver-eyed, was in a simple blue dress bejewelled by a silver necklace.  
Mavriki then hovered to the next kingdom—a turquoise screen featuring a turquoise and silver emblem with a hibiscus.  
"This is the 4th Kingdom of Adhaya, well known for sustainability in every aspect of living, which includes environmentally-friendly methods. King Zauril Adhyra is their ruler alongside his daughter and potential heiress, Gladis Adhyra."  
Mavriki thrust his arms to the air and exclaimed, “And that’s it!”  
But, Derora noticed another screen in red which showed the red, yellow and bronze emblem with a daffodil. "What about that one?"  
Mavriki instantly pressed the switch off button, making the screens disappear. "It's the 5th Kingdom of Suseonhwa, but it's irrelevant. You don't need to know,” said Mavriki with a disgust on his face.  
Derora was bemused by Mavriki’s assertive statement about Suseonhwa. “Uh, what do you mean--”  
"Derora, how about I arrange a homecoming banquet with the Raionas and some guests to celebrate your return?"  
"A homecoming banquet?"  
"Yes, to celebrate your return!”  
“Mavriki, please don’t. The homecoming ceremony is not necessary. I don't know who you are inviting and--"  
"Derora,” said Mavriki, grabbing her hand, “this is a very significant occasion for everyone to know you are now alive."  
“But I--”  
“No more buts.”  
He pressed a button and came to appear a hologram of Darshani.  
“Darshini, liaise with the best event organisers for the Princess's homecoming party."  
"Yes, your highness."  
Derora’s clasped hands and arms drooped by her thighs. She watched Mavriki walking back and forth, humming his thoughts:  
“What should the party be like?”  
“How many guests are going to be invited?”  
“What outfit should I wear?”  
“How would my darling Derora look on her big day?”  
\---  
Derora returned to her room and was surprised by the presence of Kayli and Maurien.  
“Nice outfit,” smiled Maurien.   
“Someone did her well,” added Kayli.  
Derora then sat on her bed and told Kayli and Maurien, “Hey, Mavriki is planning a homecoming party to celebrate my return.”

"What? No way!” "What's your homecoming going to be like?" asked Kayli.  
"I don't know. It's under Mavriki’s control. He seemed to be too obsessed with it.”  
"It turns out that my brother is more enthusiastic about your party than his coronation," highlighted Maurien. "But Derora, how excited are you for the party?"  
“It’s my first time attending a party, so I am not sure about that. Mavriki doesn't need to arrange a party like this. I am not ready to meet new people, and I am not used to going to a party.”  
"Well, it's a good thing to hear that at least someone of Celinean royalty is alive. It is good news to some Celineans residing in our shores,” affirmed Maurien.  
“My people are residing here on your shores?”  
“Yes, Derora. Majority of the remaining Celineans are living here, mostly expats.”  
Kayli rested her chin on her palms and her elbow on her thighs and leaned over towards Kayli. "So, what do you think of Mavee? Your type of guy?"  
"I feel it’s too quick to give an impression."  
"Swipe left," chortled Kayli.  
Derora hanged her head low. "And I am not comfortable meeting strangers for the first time."  
"Come on, Dede," said Kayli, "Don't worry about it. If these assholes take advantage of you, I will be sure to kick them in the balls with my studded heels.”  
Maurien gave a light hiss at Kayli.  
Derora’s eyes lightened. "That means you'll be coming, Kayli?"  
Kayli then darted her eyes at Maurien. "I better be on that invite list."  
“Well, I believe so considering we were the ones who found Derora yesterday.”  
The doors shot open, sending the trio sprawling up the bed.  
“There you are! I was looking for you all over the palace,” said Mavriki, snapping his fingers at Darshani to pass a clipboard. He slipped out a pen from the edge of the clipboard and flipped through the papers, ticking out boxes of tasks. “Right, all invitations to the party next week have been sent out. You’re invited too Kayli, in case you didn’t check your mailbox."  
Just then, Kayli’s cell phone—an aquamarine flip phone—vibrated. “A text message from dad?”  
  
“Your father is back?” asked Derora.  
“Nope, but he heard about the invitation and of course, your return.” Kayli then quickly snapped a photo of Derora, potentially blinding her with the bright flash. “And don’t mind me, my dad requested a photo of you to verify.”  
  
“Word indeed reached out to Mikaere fast,” said Mavriki. “Shocking that he’s in Adhaya settling royal matters one week earlier. He probably didn't want to see my face.”  
  
“Urgh," exclaimed Kayli with her nose still stuck to her phone. "Dad said he knew about the invitation because he instructed the servants to open every letter I got from the mail. What a violation of privacy!”  
“Right, the topic aside,” said Mavriki, clapping his hands to get everyone’s attention, “I’ve contacted one of the best royal ateliers to style Derora on her special day.”  
Kayli charged in, assuming Mavriki wanted his ‘alone time’ with Derora, “And you want me and Maurien to scoot over to another room?”  
Mavriki clicked his tongue and pressed his mouth together, trying his best to filter out his words before blurting it out.“ No, no. You can stay and help style Maurien too. He resists almost every style I suggest to him unless by force, so since he listens to you more than me, maybe you can come up with something to his liking.”  
“What?!? Brother, I can style myself.”  
“I can do that," said Kayli with a cunning smirk written on her face.  
“No way!” shuddered Maurien, hiding his face with his bangs like a curtain.  
"As long as I approved Kayli's styling." Mavriki patted Maurien’s back and snapped his fingers. In came the in-house styling team with racks of high-end clothing pieces and a cosmetic-stocked luggage trunk which converts into a makeshift vanity table.  
Derora gasped at the number of outfits Mavriki had picked out. “Do I always have to wear everything a little…fancy?”  
  
“Dear, of course!” squealed Mavriki, thrusting his arms into the air in excitement. “You are a Princess. It is a royal protocol to dress at your best! Clothes, shoes, jewellery, makeup and also…a diamond-encrusted manicure! Show the world that you’re a princess and not a peasant!”  
Seeing Derora’s discomfort, Kayli wangled for a negotiation. “Hey, do you have any item that doesn't speak ‘fancy’?”  
“And what are you suggesting?”  
  
Kayli shrugged, “You know...something not haute couture?”  
  
Mavriki folded his arms, having already cracked what Kayli was implying. “No, Kayli. If it’s one of those online retailers or anything that is of poor standards, or in peasant terms, 'fast fashion', I will have to say no.”  
  
Kayli gave a contempt smile. “But at least let Derora see whatever fits her style, even if it's not a bespoke outfit.”  
“Kayli, no. I don't want Derora to make a mockery out of herself wearing cheap clothing made by peasants.”  
  
Kayli let out a ‘hmph’ as Mavriki gleefully guided Derora through the clothing racks, glossing the designer names out to Derora. He plucked out a piece that looks more sophisticated than what Derora is wearing at that moment. “So this is made by--”  
“Sir,” said a household staff entering the room.  
Mavriki looked over and glared at him, "What is it now? Someone destroyed my favourite ranunculus flowers in the royal garden?”  
The household servant shook his head. "No, Your Majesty, but Sir Viktor and Lady Leia just arrived and want to see you and the Princess."  
"What?! For God’s sake, why now?! Can’t they wait till the party?!”  
\---  
  
In the tea room waited Viktor Raiona, a middle-aged man with dark brown hair and green eyes in an elegant burgundy suit, and Leia Actaeon, a refined woman with braided bun mocha brown hair and magenta eyes in a magenta dress accessorised in leather.  
"Uncle Viktor, Aunt Leia!" greeted Maurien cheerfully.  
Leia got up from her seat and kissed Maurien and Mavriki on the cheeks. "Ah, Maurien and Mavriki. Good to see you."  
"Why did you decide to make your presence here, unannounced?” questioned Mavriki.  
Viktor looked at Mavriki with a proud smile on his face. "We received an invite not too long ago. It mentioned that Princess Derora is back from the dead, so we came here to verify in advance whether it’s the real deal or one of the fraudulent scams like how the scammer managed to impersonate me a few months back!”  
  
"Who are they?" whispered Derora to Kayli.  
Kayli tilted her body sideways towards Derora and subtly pointed at the two individuals. "That's King Alekai’s brother, Viktor Raiona. Viktor is their uncle which means Maurien and Mavee are his nephews. And that's Aunt Leia. She is a tough cookie. If provoked, she will take out her hunting rifle and hunt you down."  
Leia caught notice of Kayli and probed about her company. "What is Mikaere Democritus' daughter doing here? Shouldn't Kaylista be at--"  
"Aunt Leia, Kayli played a big role in finding the Princess,” defended Mavriki. “If it weren't for her and Maurien, Derora wouldn't have been found immediately and would be passed off as a peasant on the streets."  
"Ah, is that so? I thought Kaylista would be the kind who heck-care about royal situations given the fact that she disrespects royalty and isn't of any wealth."  
Viktor whispered, “Derora looks like the real deal. She has the resemblance of her father.”  
"Princess Derora," smiled Leia and gave a curtsy. “How rude of me to jade you from a conversation. I am Leia Actaeon of the House of Actaeon."  
"Pleased...pleased to meet you. Have we met before?"  
Leia, astounded, stepped forward and held Derora’s hands. "Princess, do you not remember? When you were a baby, your parents would bring you to our palace. We've spent the time playing with your toys, and when you get tired, I'd caressed you in my arms to sleep."  
"We did?"  
“And you would cry the moment you see my face,” laughed Viktor. “Was it because of that goatee I had back then?”  
Leia laughed along hysterically, “Yeah, that spooked a lot of children back then. Even Ezekiel compared you to a goat! You don't remember, do you?"  
Derora stared blankly and shook her head, "I guess it's because I am amne--”  
"Ah, my bad, princess. You were too young back then, so it's a valid reason that you can't remember," chortle Leia. “But, I am happy to hear you're alive again, Princess. Welcome to the family, even though you are an honorary member for now."  
Derora turned to Mavriki and whispered, "What does she mean by an honorary member, and what does it have to do with me?"  
Viktor chipped in and clarified, "Now that you are confirmed to be the last living royal of Celine, you need our support and be automatically affiliated back to the Royal House of Raiona. In-laws included."  
Viktor's additional comment reminded Leia of something as she took out an item from her grandiose leather tote bag.  
"Speaking of in-laws, my sister made something quick after I told her about your return."  
Leia took out a cooler bag and unzipped it. In there, was a metal container surrounded by packs of ice. She removed the metal lid, revealing a chocolate mousse coated with edible gold, sprinkled with rainbow sprinkles and a hint of dark chocolate bits.  
"I heard you like chocolate, so my sister came up with this. I hope you like it."  
Derora pointed at herself, "I like chocolate?"  
"You don’t like chocolate?” gasped Mavriki. “It used to be one of your favourite things."  
“No, no, chocolate is a favourite of mine growing up."  
Mavriki nodded, "Ah, yes. Though you used to be fussy about what chocolate you eat."  
Mavriki turned to ask Leia, "What chocolate did Aunt Victoria use?"  
"If I am not wrong,” said Leia, scooping a dollop of the chocolate mousse, “she used milk chocolate."  
"Thank god. Derora only likes milk chocolate. Other chocolate types she would--"  
"Uh, I don't mind all types of chocolate. I tried dark chocolate before though it's a little too bitter."  
Leia smiled as she passed the spoon of chocolate mousse to Derora. "Ah, I am glad to hear that she isn’t a fussy eater after all. Please, have a try of this chocolate mousse even though it's sprinkled with dark chocolate bits."  
Derora took the spoon, licked the chocolate mousse off and a beam of happiness spread over her face. "I like it!"   
  
Leia turned to Maurien and Kayli, gesturing to them to take a scoop of chocolate mousse. "Go on, children. Help yourselves. Take it as dessert before dinner."  
  
"Goodness,” scorned Mavriki. “When are you going to stop calling us children? We’re all adults now."  
"Well, you're still children to me," tittered Leia.  
  
"Both your sons are now young men, and you still call them children?"  
"Of course, a young person younger than me is considered a 'child' to me."  
Mavriki rolled his eyes as he bit on his spoon.  
"Since both of you are here, Uncle and Aunty, how about dinner with us?" said Maurien.  
  
"Invite Aunt Leia and Uncle Viktor for dinner?” hissed Mavriki. “Doesn't it sound very last minute? I mean they--"  
"We don't mind. Why? Don't you want us to be here?"  
“I mean--" stammered Mavriki.  
"I am sure the princess doesn't mind too, am I right?" said Viktor, glazing his eyes at Derora for her approval.  
  
"The princess needs time to settle in, so I think she minds you two," opined Mavriki.  
"Why are you answering for Derora? Once again, Princess Derora, do you mind us staying for a little while for dinner?"  
"Uh, I don't mind."  
Mavriki sighed, "Oh well, I have to inform the kitchen staff that we have guests to serve."  
\---  
All the individuals were seated in the royal dining room, having been served with foie gras, dusted with gold flakes, for their appetiser.  
“Goodness, your love for gold flakes,” scoffed Viktor as he removed the flakes away from his plate. “If Caiden were here, he would fancy some.”  
"Derora, I heard you were off the radar for ten years. What were you doing during that time?” asked Leia.  
Derora cleared her throat to answer, but Mavriki intervened. "According to what Derora claimed, she was taken in by a bunch of foster freaks under some care."  
  
"Is it a registered foster care? Isn’t it weird that they didn't realise a princess was in their care and didn't report her existence?"  
"Fiona is her name,” responded Derora. “She’s the one who took care of me alongside other children."  
"Aunt Leia, do not bother,” chimed Mavriki in. “They would have realised that something was amiss if it was registered and would have given Derora under the care of a royal family, for instance, ours."  
"If they didn’t recognise Derora as the Princess, it is positive that this so-called foster care isn’t trusted. But, seeing no signs of abuse and anorexia makes me think otherwise,” assessed Leia.  
“Why would that matter anyway, Aunt Leia? We have a scrummy dinner laid for us—lobster thermidor lightly sprinkled with truffle oil for the next course, if I may add. Let’s chew on another topic, shall we?”  
Everyone resumed with their dinners and chatted along, but Leia was still deep in thoughts. She scanned Derora once more and whispered to Viktor, "I noticed Derora sounded a little strange. She used to have a bubbly personality when I last saw her. Fast forward to 10 years later, Derora is the complete opposite. Innocent, naïve and with a little a frown on her face."  
“Yeah, she looked clueless about what’s happening, judging from how she’s been inquiring about several things to Mavriki."  
“And the fact that both of them are extremely close.”  
“Which families are under the alliance of the RHR?” inquired Derora to Mavriki.  
Leia overheard the conversation between Derora and Mavriki and responded without hesitation. "There are a total of four families under RHR’s alliance as of now.”   
“Ahem aunty, we are busy with our conversation here,” squawked Mavriki.  
“Hush Mavriki! Anyways, as I was saying, there’s the Democritus family. They served the royal family for many generations. Apart from them, my family, the Actaeon family, and Neo family and Adhaya family are under that alliance too.”  
"What about the maternal family of Mavriki and Maurien?” asked Derora.  
"We had to cut them off our alliance," said Viktor. "For safety measures."  
"Why did you cut them off?"  
"It was due to Mavriki and Maurien’s mother passing," explained Viktor. "An alliance will be cut off when one passes on to prevent corruption and exploitation of the Raiona name.”   
“In this case," added Leia, "the boys' mother was married to the current king of Raiona, which made her and her family part of the alliance. But, because of the death of their mother, we were afraid that her family might take advantage of our name and send it to bad light. Even though Minseok Nari, the boys’ maternal grandfather, worked as a royal archivist with us, that isn’t an exception."  
"Where are they now?"  
"Right now, the Nari clan are banished from the Ricca capital and sent to the lower tier of Raiona, which is Mezzo. And we know who is very happy to have them there," glared Leia at Mavriki.  
\---  
Now that dinner has finished, Leia and Viktor made their leave. The princes and Derora escorted them to the front entrance of the palace.   
"It's a pleasure for us to have dinner with you and to be able to meet Derora for the first time," curtsied Leia.  
"A pleasure indeed," winced Maurien.  
A burgundy red vintage car driven by the valet lodged into the porch. Viktor went ahead and entered the vehicle. He arranged himself into his seat, buckled his seatbelt up and turned to his wife, who was missing.  
"Leia! Aren’t you coming to drive this thing?" screamed Viktor over the window.  
“Right, right. Sorry, dear! Bye, everyone!”  
Meanwhile, another car arrived through the gates. It was Kayli’s turn to go home. But, as she set foot in the car, Mavriki came rushing through the doors and passed her a briefcase filled with cash he had promised her. Kayli locked it between her arms as the door closed behind her. She drew the window down and winked at Maurien. "See you around if I can."  
Maurien waved goodbye and quickly turned pink.  
"Maurien, your cheeks,” tittered Derora.  
"Oh goodness gracious!" shrieked Maurien as he covered his cheeks with his hands.  
"What's wrong, darling?" asked Mavriki.  
"Oh, nothing! Just a mosquito that bit me on the cheeks!” gabbled Maurien.  
Mavriki held Maurien’s head with both hands and inspected the ‘mosquito bite’. “Doesn’t look like it.”  
Derora continued to giggle. “It’s a little too rosy for a mosquito bite.”  
Maurien withdrew himself before Derora and Mavriki could say anything else, brisk walking quickly to the hallways, covering his embarrassed face.   
“What’s his shtick?” spurned Mavriki as he raised his waxed eyebrow and folded his arms.  
\---  
Derora returned to her room, surprised by a surplus of items in her room—a brand new silver vanity table, as she had requested, decked with an array of skincare goodies ranging from toners, moisturisers, and sheet masks. She traipsed towards the vanity table and studied each of the products. Just then, there was a knock on the door. She dispatched everything back to its original spot and scuttled onto her bed, pretending to be undisturbed about the addition of items in the room. She gathered her breath and composure, sat up straight and said, "Come in.”  
The door swung open and in came Mavriki, who had his wavy curls tied in a low ponytail, donned in a gold silk pyjamas, a matching jacquard robe, and fur leather slippers.  
"You’re going to bed now?"  
"Yes, darling," dozed Mavriki, subtly kicking himself up back to consciousness. “I am tired and need my beauty sleep, but I just came here to know if you’ve noticed the surprise I laid out. So what do you think?"  
“Uhm yeah, they, they look good,” stammered Derora.  
"Yes, a Princess needs to have the best of everything, so I had the staff to procure everything that is needed; brands that are Raiona-approved. I also had your closet filled with the best clothes, best lingerie, and accessories from the best boutiques."  
Derora, with a hunched back now, gaped at her walk-in closet in silence. A gibbous of designer outfits hung out of their racks, a blue velvet couch rested next to it, and a full-body gold-plated mirror occupied a section of the wall.  
"You alright? Why don't we take a closer look?" said Mavriki, reaching his hands out to Derora and pulling her up from the bed. "It looks like a normal mirror, but this is a VR mirror. All you have to do is to swipe your hand, and there you go, a selection of outfits will be laid out on the screen for you to choose. Once you’ve picked an outfit, all you have to do is tap your hands gently into the air, and voila! The rack will spin and have your chosen outfit appear right in front of you. Want to give it a try?”  
Derora incredulously took a step closer towards the mirror and gave it a try.  
“See, easy, isn’t it?” smiled Mavriki.   
He then led Derora back to the room and opened a built-in silver refrigerator. “And right here is a mini refreshment corner.” In there were glass bottles of chocolate milk, sparkling water and distilled water.  
"It’s your favourite milk flavour," pointed Mavriki to the chocolate milk. "Excellent choice ‘coz it is one of the best dairy brands here."  
Derora frowned, “I like that flavour?”  
"Well, I remembered you were fond about chocolate milk to the point you had it with your cereal."  
Derora cringed a little, "Chocolate milk in cereal?"  
"A crazy thing indeed, that of course, I was shocked to see such a sacrilegious creation."  
"I guess children do have creative minds," chuckled Derora.  
"I guess,” yawned Mavrik. “I should head back to my room. My beauty sleep is calling me. Good night, Derora.”  
Mavriki lifted a smirk and kissed the back of Derora’s hand before he closed the door.  
Year 3002

A woman opened the door, and in followed a caregiver carrying a young toddler.  
“Will she be safe in this room, your majesty?” asked the caregiver.  
“Of course, Olivia. I have already requested security to come over in a few minutes to guard the door to prevent a kidnapping scene from happening.”  
“Ah, thank the heavens for security.”  
The caregiver handed the toddler to the woman.  
She tucked a lock of the toddler's hair behind her ears and leaned in to kiss her head. She gently transferred her onto the bed and hummed a lullaby.  
“Your Majesty, am I allowed to ask a personal question?” whispered the caregiver.  
“Yes, you can ask me anything.”  
“Have you ever wanted a daughter of your own?”  
The woman replied swiftly, “Yeah, I do want a daughter of my own, but I am afraid it is impossible.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“There hasn’t been a pure-blooded female Raiona ever since the founding of the Royal House of Raiona. It has always been the males who take up the throne. Don’t get me wrong. I love my sons as dearly as I hoped to have a girl.”  
The woman continued as she stared at the toddler, who was fast asleep. “But if I ever conceived one, I do hope the boys will get along with their future baby sister.”  
“I can’t help to notice that one of your sons takes a liking for the little princess,” teased the caregiver.  
“Which one?”  
“Well, it’s hard to say since he--”  
The doors opened to reveal a royal guard. “Your Highness, you called?”  
The woman got up from the bed and said, “Yes, I’m glad you’re finally here. Please make sure no one enters this room for the next 2 hours.”  
Both the woman and the caregiver left the room, leaving Derora with the royal guard. But they weren’t alone. A young boy was watching the toddler sleep.  
\---  
Present Time  
A knock on the door interrupted Derora’s sleep. She opened the door and Maurien appeared clad in his royal nightwear.  
“Maurien, shouldn’t you retire to bed too?”  
“No, I am not sleeping early. Do you mind if I can come in and talk to you for a while?”  
Derora nodded, opening the door wider to let Maurien in. She headed towards the fridge to take a drink for Maurien, but he immediately declined as he sat down on the lounge area couch. “No, thank you, but thanks for the offer. Are you getting used to the fact that you’re within our ranks?”  
Derora nodded, “Yes, but I do not need much extravagant stuff from your brother.”  
Maurien sighed, feeling that he related to Derora. “Well, it can’t be helped. Mavriki will do whatever it takes to give the best of the best by spoiling his little brother and you. It’s hard to refuse such things, you know?”  
Derora cleared her throat, “How often does Mavriki pamper you?”   
“Several times out of necessity which I seem to have lost count. He even gifted me everything from the latest summer collection of a well-known designer brand.”  
“Shouldn’t he be giving gifts to other people as well?”  
“Derora. He is a very selective person. He chooses who to pamper, whatsoever, before he gives them a gift.”  
“Are the household staff rewarded with Mavriki’s generosity?”  
Maurien shook his head, “Unfortunately, no.”  
“Why?”  
“It’s pretty much a little too personal, so I can’t say anything. But now that it looks you and Mavriki were indeed close and that he displayed respect for you, you can advise him politely. Anyways, you are fortunate enough to get this room.”  
“It’s just a room, nothing special,” shrugged Derora.  
“Well, there’s a story behind it.”  
Maurien sat back and crossed his legs as he explained why. “If I can recall, we had guests come over with their children, and this was the room where their kids would take their siesta.”  
Derora stared into open space before she said, “I feel like I recognise this room. I think I have slept here before as a kid.”  
“You did? Well, what do you remember? Your memory could have been getting better.”  
“All I remember was that I was in this room with a woman coaxing me to sleep. She even mentioned she wanted a daughter.”  
“Ah, it must have been my mother who settled you to sleep.”  
“Yea, I guess so. You look exactly like her.”  
“That is what everyone said. I looked like my mother except maybe my skin is a little paler,” said Maurien as he stretched his arms to his side and observed the colour of his skin.  
“Actually, how did you know I was talking about your mother?”  
Maurien replied to the question except that his voice began to sound a little melancholic. “My mother wanted to give us a baby sister. She has been longing to conceive a girl but then...”  
A tear rolled down his cheeks. Maurien tried to contain his emotions and took a deep breath before he continued. “She couldn’t. She had ovarian cancer by the time she tried to conceive.”  
Maurien broke into tears. It prompted Derora to take a few pieces of tissues from the tissue box and handed it to Maurien.  
“The death of my mother affected me greatly, but it took a toll on my father the most.”  
Maurien sniffed and dried his tears, a little too embarrassed to be crying in front of a woman. “I must have embarrassed myself, and showed a vulnerable side, so I apologise for that,” said Maurien who laughed it off.  
“No, don’t be,” comforted Derora, reaching her hands out to Maurien’s.  
Maurien got up from his seat, drying his tears onto the tissue and his sleeves. “But at the end of the day, despite their deaths, my late mother and my late brother will live in my heart as I continue living.”  
Derora gave a sympathetic smile as she rubbed Maurien’s back and gave him a side hug.  
“Thanks for your company, Derora. I will see you tomorrow then.”   
Maurien took a bow and left the room.  
Derora closed the door. A surge of nervousness immediately filled her heart—thoughts about the upcoming days of her life as a royal and the homecoming banquet. But at the same time, she was relieved that the answers behind her past were coming back to her.  
End of Chapter 2


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mavriki arranged a homecoming banquet to celebrate Derora's royal return. As the guests celebrate, Derora experience flashbacks of her past..

Chapter 3 :

Everything was in full swing. The household staff have been making preparations for Derora's homecoming banquet, which had built great excitement among the citizens of Raiona. There was so much anticipation around the banquet that there were local and international news anchors stationed outside the gates of the Royal Residence, all eager to pitch in the latest news of the event. 

“Today is the day of the homecoming banquet, which was hosted by Prince Mavriki. On this glorious day, we celebrate the return of Princess Derora, who, in spite of claims that she perished during the Royal Carnage, has made her unannounced presence here today, as confirmed by the RHR. Having verified her identity, they sent a notice that she will now be under the care of RHR as an Honorary member.” 

“The homecoming banquet will be a closed event between the RHR and its invited guests. More information to come!”

“The guests include high elites, who have been highly supportive of the RHR as well as those under the alliance of the RHR. This includes Leia Actaeon and surprisingly, Kaylista Esperanza who will be acting as proxy for her adoptive father Mikaere Democritus who is currently out of town. The Royal families from other kingdoms have sent in their representatives to oversee the last minute event.”

While the news anchors were busy reporting the event, Kayli had arrived a little earlier before the rest as she had exclusive access to enter the royal premises. Having granted special permission to enter the royal premises, she can request for a valet to park her car through the royal carport, which is where all the royal vehicles are.

Kayli, who was dressed in a velvet dark blue slip dress with fishnet underclothing underneath, along with matching stockings and high chunky heels with studs, got out of the car and made her way to see what Derora was up to. 

As she opened the door, she saw Derora, who was draped in a silk robe being serviced by her assistants. They were fully engrossed in giving their utmost best to beautify Derora. One hairstylist was transforming Derora's straight hair into wavy curls using an expensive hair curler. One makeup artist was doing Derora's makeup while a nail artist was doing Derora's nails by adding extravagant nail inserts.

“Now you know what’s it like to be a celebrity, I mean, it takes a LOT for that reality to sink in now that you’re a Princess!” commented Kayli, who folded her arms seeing that Derora was very preoccupied. “It takes a LOT to sink in.”

She then noticed various illustrations of Derora's outfit being hung on the wall near Derora's vanity. Kayli gave a scoff, seeing the amount of full on extravagance rather than simple elegance that Kayli would want to see Derora in. 

“I can’t believe Mavee chose these outfit sketches for you. They looked like it belonged to someone trying hard to impress potential suitors, that is if Mavee wants to marry you off.”

Derora sighed, having to agree what Kayli had said but it couldn’t be helped. “I tried to tell him that I wanted something simple, but he said today is my big day. Big day equals big things.”

The doors swung open, making way for Mavriki who entered the room to check on Derora, only to be surprised to see Kayli in the same room. To Kayli, it was no surprise to see Mavriki dressed in a very fancy outfit as he was dressed in a fancy feminine-looking power suit, along with gold eyeshadow on his eyelids. 

He wasn’t pleased to see Kayli in the room, especially after both of them had set aside their past differences. “My god, Kayli. Aren’t you spoiling yourself on what’s to come on Derora’s big day?”

Derora defended Kayli, "She isn't disturbing me, Mavriki. She’s here to say hello."

Mavriki decided to remind Kayli about another issue, saying, "Kayli, I believe you should see Maurien and help him style his clothes since I asked you to help him. He’s waiting for you to get styled. "

Kayli, knowing that she was the one who suggested the idea, made her way to see Maurien. Before she went off, she winked at Derora, saying “See you later!”

By the time Kayli made her leave, Mavriki started to ramble on about the things he withheld himself from saying in front of Kayli.

“Can’t believe Kayli had the audacity to invade and see a preview before anyone else! At least she didn’t fiddle with your makeup and give you a makeover that I wouldn’t approve of!”

Derora looked at herself in the vanity mirror and saw a different person rather than herself. Her face was caked with heavy makeup, from the smokey blue eyeshadow on her eyelids to the dark rose pink lip colour on her lips.

Though she didn't like the look at first, she still had to remember that she was now of royalty and that she had to get used to wearing anything extravagant.

"Derora, darling," said Mavriki, who loved the final touches of Derora's extravagant makeup.

Derora asked Mavriki, “How… do I look?”

Mavriki smiled, “It’s exactly what I envisioned, except it would be better if there’s clear gloss as a top coat for your lipstick and a little more ColourPop on your lids!"

He then looked over at the styling team, whom he snapped his fingers at, “WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Hurry up and show the princess the best of your abilities!”  
—

The invitees had arrived and waited at the huge ballroom. The invitees included several people of wealthy backgrounds, as well as some of those of the Royal House of Raiona. Some, on a positive note, were elated to hear that Derora had made an unexpected return and hoped that things would be a little better. Others were cynical and believed that the homecoming party was nothing but a setup and that Derora could be an imposter.

Leia and Viktor were among the guests who were dressed in super boujee outfits. Compared to the guests’ flamboyant outfit choices, however, Leia chose to wear a simple magenta gown with leather details, while her husband followed suit with a matching tuxedo with leather embedded into it. 

“Mavriki obviously has a bad taste in these guests,” condemned Leia, giving a judgemental look. “Those smug bastards and gold diggers are here because they want to show support, but it looks as if they are just misguided animals who just want to bathe in his fame and fortune.”

“Well it can’t be helped,” said Viktor. “As long as they have the funds to back up the RHR in which they generously donated their large sums of money. At least they are doing SOMETHING.” 

Leia whipped out her fan to fan herself away from the bad vibes she was getting, making her stance that she wasn’t one of them.

“They can bloody well show off their designer goods while I invest in the best hunter weapons and teachers for not only for my two sons, but for my family too."

Meanwhile, Kayli and Maurien were still on the way to the Royal Palace. Maurien was wearing a velvet floral yellow suit and gold leather ankle boots, with his bangs slicked to the back. Like his brother, he was also wearing a sheen gold eyeshadow, though it's not as intense as Mavriki's bold eye look. When both Kayli and Maurien finally arrived, they were appalled seeing such a sheer number of people in the Royal Palace.

"That is one hell of a crowd," said Kayli, “Guess they really want a close up glimpse of Derora to see whether she's the real deal.”

Maurien looked over and noticed some of the guests invited were thrilled to take photos to post on their respective social media. “I believe they are going to brag that they have met the real Derora in their social media pages.”

Kayli changed the subject, who was pissed about how Mavriki had given his disapproving remarks about her styling choices.. "Maurien, care to explain why your brother hates green, especially emerald colour? I think the emerald suit I picked out looks nice on you. Is it because Mavriki thinks green is the colour of you know, lead?”

Maurien sighed, "You know Mavriki and his fussiness about colours. He likes me in yellow and gold rather than in icky colours. Green, orange, red and especially turquoise are disgusting to him. He also mentioned that grey is an old lady colour.” 

Kayli rolled her eyes. “I would like to see you throw a fuss at Mavee one day. If you like, I can give you a script.”

Maurien politely turned her down, “Obviously, Mavriki would obviously know it’s from you. Also, I don’t have enough courage to piss my brother off because of the good things he has done for me .”

Kayli took a quote from Maurien’s sentence. “ ‘The good things he has done’. How about donating some money to the people and get the Mezzo side out of poverty?”

“I can’t comment on that. Maybe Mavriki is thinking of another solution apart from just donations,” said Maurien, who continued to defend his brother.

Kayli scoffed, “Think of another solution, my ass. All he does is sit and think about adding a designer bag in his collection. Talk about being ‘self made’.”

Kayli decided to get to the point. “Maurien, you need to stop defending Mavee. You know damn well that almost everyone in Raiona hates him for being a selfish and unkind bastard. Also, you need to at least give him some backtalk.” 

“He’s my brother. Now that Derora is here, we can only hope that with her help, Mavriki can prove to others that he can be a better person.”

With the mention of Derora’s name, Kayli couldn’t help but hope for the best to happen. 

“With Derora around, there may be a higher chance that he will change up his image.”

Maurien agreed, “Let’s wait and hope for the best.”

All lights were dimmed down, save for the spotlight that brightly illuminated the grand staircase. Orchestral music arose from the background. Everyone's eyes were drawn to Mavriki, who gradually made his way down the stairs. He stopped halfway, tilted his head upwards and waited in great anticipation. 

All eyes were on Derora who gracefully walked down the stairs, who was wearing an extravagant ball gown with a crystal embedded bodice and a black tulle skirt, completed with a silver tiara and a silver sash around her. 

Mavriki held his hand up for Derora to reach it before he kissed the back of Derora's hand. He then looked at his guests and began his speech in such grandness in his voice, "My guests, let us celebrate the return of the last living Celine royal, Princess Derora!”

Seeing Derora after for so long made the people mesmerized and convinced that they are seeing the real Princess of Celine. 

Some of the guests expressed their opinions, loud and clear,

“She looks like the real deal!”   
“Oh, there is no way she could be an imposter!” 

Mavriki went up to escort Derora down the stairs. As they were walking down the stairs, Mavriki whispered to Derora discreetly.

"When the guests talk to you, do not mention your amnesia. I don't want the guests to have a bad impression of you as they will brush that word as some illness or worse, deem you as an imposter to scam the RHR.”

As both descended down the stairs, the cameras began to flash. The last thing Mavriki wanted was a paparazzi invasion, as some of the guests had already whipped out their camera phones and were aiming towards Derora and Mavriki. 

Mavriki enjoyed the attention he was getting, but not for Derora, who wasn’t used to it. Feeling extreme discomfort, she alerted Mavriki by tapping on his shoulder as she was starting to see a flurry of stars from the camera flashes. 

"The lights are making me dizzy."

Mavriki swiftly turned to Derora, fearing that Derora would collapse on him. Fortunately, that didn’t happen as Mavriki’s back blocked the lights from Derora. He then gestured to a nearby guard to tell them to stop taking pictures with flash. 

Once both of them stepped away from the stairs, the guests were able to get a closer glimpse of Derora. Derora saw that the guests were clearly awestruck by her appearance, even though both Mavriki and herself were supposed to be 1-2 feet away from the guests.

When Mavriki brought Derora over to talk to his guests, the surging crowd of guests clamoured for attention from Derora. Clearly taken aback by the guests, Derora became apprehensive and recoiled, but Mavriki kindly prompted her to talk.

“The guests won’t bite so please, do talk to them.”

Derora acknowledged it and did her best to interact with the guests she barely knew. 

The homecoming banquet was in full swing. All guests have been seated at a long dining table in another huge ballroom.

Derora, Mavriki, Maurien, Kayli and other family members of the Royal House of Raiona all sat at the head of the table, while other guests were seated at the sides.

Mavriki got up and gathered everyone's attention by tapping his spoon onto his wine glass, prompting everyone to stand up. Mavriki then started his speech.

"My dear family members and guests, I would like to express my gratitude to not only my family but to the guests for coming for this special occasion, which is to celebrate the unexpected return of Princess Derora of Celine. Many of us know that everyone in the Royal House of Celine was consumed by the horrible Royal Carnage that also took almost every innocent life in the Kingdom of Celine so please, a moment of silence to remember the lives lost.”

The chatters were silenced to pay respects that lasted for a few minutes,until Mavriki spoke again, “I would like to give my condolences again to the late King Darius and the late members of the Royal House of Celice, as well as the late citizens of Celine. The Royal House of Raiona had a close and intimate connection with the late kingdom, of which had greatly contributed to our Arts scene by bringing in foreign talents.”

He raised his wine glass with a gleeful look on his face, “A toast to the Princess’ return!”

Everyone cheered as they clinked their wine glasses. “A toast to Celine’s last living princess!!” 

From there, everyone took a sip at their glasses. The guests loved the wine that the host family prepared for them so much that they demanded for a few more glasses. 

Derora peered at the wine in an odd way after she sipped the wine, but she chose to hide her dismay, knowing that her attitude may ruin the essence of the party as she was the star of the night.

Mavriki noticed Derora’s displeasure, "What's wrong, Derora? Wine gone bad?"

Derora shook her head. "No, the wine is fine, just not used to drinking… alcohol.”

Mavriki took a sip of his wine to get the taste before he came up with some suggestions that might suit Derora’s palate. “Maybe you prefer sweeter wine. How about some moscato or rose?”

In the meantime, Kayli couldn’t help but compliment the wine she was drinking. "This is some fine wine," said Kayli as she took another sip. "Mind if I can bring the wine bottle or two home?"

Maurien then asked, "Empty or...?"

"Of course full! What would an empty wine bottle do? Net me a few bucks if I can turn the bottle into fancy cups?"

Maurien raised a concern, "Your father might ban you if he finds the wine bottle in the kitchen’s wine room at home, knowing that it is from our winery.”

Kayli couldn’t help but laugh, "Nah, I will stash it somewhere in my room. I have a secret wine cabinet in my closet where I also store my vodka and gin. Actually now that I think of it, I still have the blue whiskey from before since I illegally bought it with a fake ID."

“Kayli, did you know that too much alcohol can lead to...”

She cut off Maurien’s words. “Don’t worry, Mau. I know what I am doing. Besides, I am trained in MMA so I can punch someone in the testicles with my fist.”

Maurien was disturbed by Kayli’s crudeness and dismissed it by thinking of another topic.

When the doors opened, a horde of servers, armed with dinner platters covered in gold plated cloches, began to serve the guests.

The way they sauntered across the ballroom in such an elegant manner was akin to a well-rehearsed performance. Their movements were in perfect harmony; from their footwork to the way they greeted their guests, and to the way they removed the cloches. The servers delicately lifted the cloches, revealing an exquisitely presented dish which included an edible gold coated medium rare filet mignon, completed with smooth mash potatoes on the bottom of the steak and organic produce.

Kayli fiddled with the gold coating on the steak and expressed her disgust, “Urgh, gold flakes again. What a waste, they could have been used for more valuable things instead...”

Derora was new to the concept of adding gold flakes onto food, that she wondered whether the flakes were edible. 

Maurien acted as if everything was normal while Mavriki enjoyed the steak. It was a scrumptious meal and all of the energy gained would have been saved for the next segment of the homecoming banquet, which was a dance. The guests were then escorted to another huge ballroom, where the upcoming segment was about to begin.

The guests entered the ballroom, and through the large overhead glass window, they were greeted with a smattering scatter of luminous stars, which were dotted across the velvet dark sky. It was a clear night, only illuminated by the glint of starlight and the radiance of the glowing moon. 

Musicians that were stationed on one side started to play a classic waltz. Everyone was waiting for the star of the show to start the dance, that was none other than Mavriki himself. Mavriki stepped forward in the middle of the ballroom and reached out his hand to Derora.

“Shall we dance, milady?” offered Mavriki.

Derora looked at Mavriki, who was waiting for her to take his hand. Mavriki then nodded his head towards Derora, prompting her to take his hand. With that, the duo started their dance as the spotlight was on them.

The rest followed suit as they danced along including Kayli and Maurien.

Kayli decided to give Maurien a disclaimer, “Just letting’ ya know. Dancing classy isn’t my speciality.” 

Derora didn’t seem to know how to dance but discreetly memorised the dance steps from the people around her. 

“Just memorise and all will be fine,” thought Derora, focusing on the dance.

Year 3006

A young girl dressed in a blue lacy dress found herself in a ballroom complete with guests at a party. She watched as her parents danced alongside the other adults.

She looked around to see a corner that was meant for children. Derora watched a well-dressed boy with topaz eyes and ebony hair peeking at a spunky blonde girl with aquamarine eyes, who was playing a video game on her console.

She wanted to join in but the girl took notice of her and moved away, “Hey Princess, shouldn’t you be playing with other spoiled princesses? I mean, play with dolls like the trash you are holding.”

Derora turned around to see the ‘spoiled princesses’ playing with expensive looking dolls, which was in contrast to the rag doll Derora was holding on to.

“Can I watch you play your game?” asked Derora as she moved closer, but the girl jerked forward and pushed her aside. 

“Urh, no. This type of game is not for princesses like you to play. Excuse us!”

The girl ran off with her friend following her, leaving Derora alone. She lowered her head, trying her best not to cry or to make a scene to attract her parents’ attention (but her parents were too busy anyway). She found a spot to sit down and started playing and talking to her doll, “Would you like a cupcake, Odette? There’s a lot of cupcakes on the table that I can ask Ms. Olivia to get some for us...”

Just then, Derora heard a soft voice, “What are you doing sitting down there?” 

Derora was startled by the voice that belonged to another young boy with ebony black hair and green eyes, clad in a black and gold suit.

“No one would want to play with me, even the girl with the small device.”

The boy shifted his eyes to the person Derora mentioned and gave a groan. 

“Oh her? She’s nothing but trouble to the royals. You have to stay away from her.”

Derora nodded her head, “She isn’t nice. She called my doll ‘trash’ “

Then, Derora covered her ears as the music from the orchestra began to play a loud tune. “It’s too loud.”

The boy came up with a solution, “Come with me.”

He grabbed Derora’s hand, taking her away from the extravagant ballroom to the courtyard outside. Derora was led into a big glass dome garden house where the moonlight acted as the light source.

Derora was amazed by the different exotic species of the flora encased in one garden house. Not only that, it was all peace and quiet compared to the loud booming party.

“Why did you take me here instead of some other place in the palace?” asked Derora. 

Instead of an answer, he reached his hand out to Derora, saying, “Shall we dance, mademoiselle?”

Derora hesitated at first, but decided to take his hand where he and Derora started to dance like the adults in the ballroom, except in a quieter setting. Somehow, the dimly-lit and the unusually silent atmosphere made Derora a little timid and uncomfortable. 

“You seem to be so distressed by loud noises, that you cried when we watched a show in that newly renovated theatre house in town a few days ago. Do you really hate loud sounds that much?”

Derora couldn’t deny what she just heard. “Yes, I do not like loud sounds.”

It turned out that Derora had been very sensitive to loud noises since young. 

The boy came up with a joke to cheer her up, “The plants can play as a better audience than people. Just keep quiet and watch.”

This made Derora laugh, amused by what the boy had said. “You’re funny,” chuckled Derora. 

The two young royals began to dance in the garden house as the faint music outside began to increase in volume.

The boy glided and pirouetted in the house in such a graceful manner, that it looked as if he was mimicking his parents’ dance routines from previous balls. It seemed that Derora however, did not have any prior practice in dancing, as shown by her awkward and clumsy footwork.

“Princess, did you not see your parents dance the classic waltz?”

Derora shook her head, seemingly not remembering the last time her parents danced in her sight.

The boy sighed, “Oh well, I guess I have to teach you.”

He slowly taught Derora how to dance, although Derora found it a little difficult to keep up with his pace. 

“Baby steps, Rora.” replied the boy, assuring her to take her time. “One day when you grow up, I am sure that you will be able dance properly.”

“It’s Derora.” corrected Derora. “Why do you still keep calling me that?”

“I thought a nickname would sound nicer until I am used to calling you ‘Derora’.”

The boy smiled along as he continued to hold Derora’s hands while dancing under the moonlight sky in the glass dome.

\--  
Present Day:

“Derora?”

Derora was drawn back to reality by Mavriki’s voice, realising that she was facing down as if she was going to collapse. 

“You stopped and looked like you were going to faint,” said Mavriki. “Are you alright?”

Derora replied, “I am fine. Just a little memory popped up.”

Mavriki rolled his eyes. He was clearly annoyed that Derora’s flashback kicked in at the wrong time, but he chose to reply in a calm manner instead (albeit with a bit of salt in his words). 

“Can’t you pause that and focus on the dance, Derora?”

So far, both of them were the only ones who stopped dancing halfway. Derora sighed, “I am sorry.”

Mavriki shook his head, seemingly a little upset but he brushed it off. “Well then, shall we continue this dance?”

Derora nodded as Mavriki wrapped his arm around Derora’s waist where the dance continued.

As they danced, Mavriki asked Derora about her flashback.

“What did you see in that trip down memory lane?” asked Mavriki.

“We… we were dancing when we were little, except that we were at the garden house, the one with glass walls...”

Mavriki immediately remembered, “That special dance of ours? Of course, Derora. I remember. I believe it was our little hiding spot to get away from the boring adults back then.”

Now that he mentioned it, Mavriki couldn’t help but comment on Derora’s sloppy dance moves. “Did your footwork get sloppy?”

She replied, “I haven’t danced in a long time.”

Mavriki berated the way Derora danced, “Goodness, Derora. At least the dress is long enough to cover that horrible footwork of yours.”

Mavriki’s negative comment made Derora not want to dance anymore. Seeing the sulk on Derora’s face made Mavrki regret what he had just said. “Derora. Please, don’t pull a blackface on your big day, sweetie.”

Mavrki sighed and had no choice but to apologize to make things better. “I apologize, Derora. Really, I mean it. I didn’t intend to hurt your feelings.”

He then lifted Derora’s chin towards his eyes with a soft smile on his face. “Now, let’s end the party with a bang, shall we?”

“Alright,” said Derora, as she hid her frown from Mavriki and gave a slight and bashful smile. 

While the two continued with the dance, Kayli observed the interaction between Derora and Mavriki. She turned to Maurien who was Kayli’s dance partner and asked him, “Does Mavriki often bully his dance partner, especially at a dance like this?”

“He’s very vocal that he had to inform them, be it with good or bad intentions,” replied Maurien. 

“I would say the latter. I mean, at least Derora is handling his rudeness well even though she looks very uncomfortable,” said Kayli, feeling bad for Derora. “Sigh, if I were a guy dancing with Derora, I would at least praise her for trying her best, not criticize her.”

“I am sure that they will sort it out themselves,” said Maurien. “But I do agree with you that Mavriki needs to show a little empathy in Derora’s case.”

Maurien took the opportunity to comment on Kayli’s dance moves. “I would praise you for your dance, even though this isn’t the genre and place of your choice”

Kayli scoffed, as Kayli was well known for dancing in a nightclub, which was a rather unclassy setting compared to a classic waltz which they were dancing too. “How about one day, I take you to a nightclub and make you pole dance in front of the audience?”

He felt that it was a bad idea. “Not good, Kayli.” 

Despite all that, the party ended off with a big bang, once again rejoicing Derora’s return. 

\--

With the party now over, everyone departed from the party and the household servants began to clean up. 

Derora looked over in the window of the hallway towards her bedroom chambers, seeing Kayli leaving with her car and Maurien sending the guests off. 

A household servant came over, "Lady Derora, may I escort you to your room?"

Derora nodded and made her way to her room. On the way to her bedroom, she started to notice several portraits on the walls between the walkways, one of which was scrawled on someone's face. 

Derora went over to take a look. It was a family portrait with a couple and three young children. Derora could recognize the younger and childlike versions of Mavriki and Maurien, but not the rest of the faces in the portrait. The faces and body of their mother as well the third child were scrawled by what looked like paint.

She asked the household servant, “When was this vandalised?

The response was, “It was vandalised not too long ago, your Majesty.”

Derora was shocked. “Does Mavriki know?”

The household servant paused for a moment but gave a simple answer, "Yes he is aware about that, but he told us to leave it and he will settle it."

"Oh alright," said Derora, believing that Mavriki would get it settled. 

The servant then opened the doors of Derora's bedroom, only for Derora to be greeted with a sheer number of gifts stacked all around her. 

"What is this?" asked Derora, shocked by the amount of gifts given piling up almost everywhere in the room. 

"Your Majesty, these were gifts given from the guests from the banquet. They were so overjoyed to hear of your return that they decided to bestow you with gifts.”

Derora went over and saw that most of the gifts came with luxurious packaging.

The household servant added in, “The gifts came not only from the guests who came tonight but also from RHR’s royal sponsors. They seemed to be so elated to hear about your return that they sent in many gifts as well.”

At that point, Derora felt blessed. "Ah I see. Thank you so much. You may go now while I unpack the gifts."

The servant then said what she was going to do next. "In the meantime, I will prepare a relaxing bath for you. You had a tiring day at the party.” She then went to the en suite bathroom to prepare the bath. 

Derora grabbed a blue silk shawl to cover her exposed shoulders before taking her time to open her gifts. Before she could do that, however, there was a knock on the door. Derora opened the door, surprised to see Mavriki sans his outerwear of his royal suit.

"I came to check on you. Did you enjoy the party I threw for you?" said Mavriki gleefully.

"Yes," replied Derora with a smile. "I did love it."

Derora then gestured to Mavriki as if a child was happy to show someone her new toys. "Look, I got a lot of presents. What did I do to deserve this? I don’t even need that many gifts."

Mavriki chuckled, "From what I know, some of the attendees are actually your people residing on our shores. They said they were eager to send in gifts, so I let them offer you gifts alongside the others. We placed a limit on the gifts prior, but the sheer number of requests were too overwhelming for us.

Derora was surprised at the new information, "I am surprised that they had the thought of giving me gifts."

"Yes of course. They were so elated to hear about your return that they wanted to show their support by sending over gifts."

Derora began to open her gifts, curious enough to see what they gave her. The gifts were from luxurious brands that ranged from designer clothes, perfumes, makeup and accessories.

Before Mavriki could forget, he passed Derora a folder with paperwork which made Derora confused.

"What is this?" asked Derora, scanning through the paperwork stating things that were foreign to her.

Mavriki responded, "Tomorrow, there will be a conference about the enquiry of your return."

Derora blinked her eyes as she processed what she just heard. "Conference?'

Mavriki explained further, "It's an event where you have to answer the questions which will be asked by the reporters regarding your return. Take it as a presentation."

He then pointed at the paperwork that Derora was holding.

“This paperwork contains a few helping points that cover some of the potential questions the press may ask during tomorrow’s conference. This may seem overwhelming, but don’t worry, it is likely that they will just ask about you and your future plans. Unless… some disobedient wrench makes an attempt to expose you.”

Derora began to fret. " ‘Expose me’ ? Did I do anything wrong?"

"As in, there will be people who would tell… lies about you, of which I will not allow it to happen. Fortunately, I selected the top reporters from the best news agencies to cover this, so it is likely we won’t have any amateur reporters messing up the interview."

Derora had one question she had in her head. 

“What does the conference have to do with me?” 

“Well, you are Celine’s last living royal after all. Also lately, ever since you have been found, I have been receiving tons of requests from my people to enquire about your return. These requests have been piling up for about a week, so I felt that should have been addressed.”

"How many enquiries were there about me?"

Mavriki began to count but was unable to keep track. "About more than five hundred as of now, but we had to cut that number down to about fifty enquiries, while filtering out any false rumors and anything irrelevant other than your return."

Derora frowned, "Five hundred is a lot and I can't answer that much, considering that I have a memory loss."

Derora bringing up her amnesia triggered Mavriki to firmly remind her, saying, “Ah, speaking of that, please do not mention anything about your amnesia to the press, and try not to reveal too much about how you were fostered.”

"Why can't I say that in the conference?"

"Mentioning your amnesia to the press can significantly raise suspicions about your links to the royal heritage. They may think that you are a fraud who’s trying to take advantage of me and my family.” 

Derora seemed to have understood what Mavriki was trying to say. “Is it because people will take advantage of me if I say that?”

“Why yes, of course, Derora,” said Mavriki. “Whether they believe or not, they will still try to make the worst out of you”

Derora frowned, wondering what might happen if she told anyone in the press that she is amnesiac. Her thoughts, however, came to a halt when the household staff came out of the bathroom, having done drawing the bath for Derora.

“Your Highness, your bath is ready.”

Mavriki decided to take his leave, “Anyways, I will leave you be.” 

Mavriki as he got up and was going to reach the door. “Good night, Derora.”

“Good night,” said Derora. She then proceeded to the bathroom to wash up.

\--

Maurien was already in his room, all dressed in his nightwear, completed with an embroidered silk night robe and matching silk slippers. 

Before he went to bed, he kneeled down to take out a shoe box, which was stowed away in a hidden compartment underneath his bed. The box contained a few photographs, one of which included a grayscale photo of what looked like a group shot of three young boys.

He smiled upon seeing the photograph, especially when his topaz eyes were focused on one boy in the photograph, whose side bangs were covering half of his face.

“Brother...”

It turned out that he was referring to his ‘dead’ brother pictured in the photograph, who was beside Mavriki and himself. 

Maurien leaned over and muttered unceasingly to the photograph, imagining that he was speaking to his brother in real life.

“Ever since your disappearance, things have gotten a little worse, but Princess Derora came back alive, meaning that there may be a chance that trust could be restored in the kingdom. Tomorrow, there will be a conference regarding her return and what the future would hold for her, considering that she’s now in our care. We don’t know what’s to come, but I’m so glad that Derora is finally back. Things have greatly improved because of her, especially with how she helped to resolve the conflicts between Mavriki and Kayli. “

Maurien spent a few minutes talking to the photograph about his day and what had happened that week, before placing the photograph back in the box where he had first stored it. Maurien then climbed onto his bed and turned off the lights.

Before he went to sleep, he wished his late brother good night.

“Good night, brother.”

\- End of Chapter 3


	5. Chapter 4 Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the news of Derora's return, Mavriki calls in for a conference for Derora to answer the dying questions from the public. Alongside that, Derora finds out more about Mavriki and Maurien's bloodline..

Chapter 4 :

Part 1

Derora was getting ready for the conference with enquiries regarding her return. She was looking into the mirror, dressed in a black and blue tweed two piece outfit.

She then looked over to her silver analog wristwatch which displayed the time in blue LED light.

10 A.M

“I suppose I still can buy time by taking a little stroll.” thought Derora.

The conference would be starting at noon. Derora had about half an hour to spare so she walked out of her room and made her way to the first place she had in mind.

The destination she had in mind was the glass garden house. As Derora opened the door, she was greeted by the unfamiliar flora and explored the greenhouse with an open mind.

Year 3007

Derora walked through the glass greenhouse with her doll in hand. It was a hot day. The afternoon sun was high in the clear skies, bathing the flowers in the summer warmth.

She stopped upon seeing someone in the same gardenhouse. 

“What are you doing?”

Derora couldn’t help but notice her friend picking up freshly grown flowers and putting them in a basket. 

He replied, “I am making appreciation gifts for the household staff. I know, they are just flowers, nothing fancy.”

Derora looked at the array of the flowers he had picked up. The boy picked up a few flowers for Derora to take a look at.

Seeing Derora peering at the flowers in curiosity prompted him to ask her, “Rora, you never seen these flowers that I am holding before, right?”

He then picked up two flowers which were a daffodil and a green rose with leaves of mustard colour with a hint of gold.

Derora was fascinated by the green rose that her tiny fingers touched the edges of the rose, as if it felt like silk. 

“I thought roses are supposed to be red.”

“Not all of them are red, Rora.”

He then started to give Derora a little history lesson behind the green rose. “It’s the national flower of my Kingdom. This flower represents how far my family has come and earned its riches and abundance to where we are now...”

Derora then pointed at the daffodil flower. “What about this one?”

The boy looked at the dandelion. “It represents my mother...She loves this flower and said it reminds her of my grandparents of my mother’s side. It’s a Daffodil flower.”

Then a thought hit him. He went over to a nearby flower bed, plucked out a blue lily and without Derora knowing, placed them at the middle of her tieback braids. 

Derora felt something on her hair that her instinct was to take it until the boy instructed her not to do it. “No, don't touch it.”

Derora stopped and noticed the boy smiling at her. She was confused why the boy was smiling at her, unaware that she had lilies pinned on her braided hair.

The boy then gathered all the flowers in the basket and was going to leave the garden house. He stopped and looked at Derora.

“Want to follow me?”

Derora immediately nodded and followed him along. A gleeful smile lit up on the boy’s face. He gave both the daffodil and green rose to each of the household staff while thanking every staff member for their hard work. The staff members were surprised to see the prince handing out such kind gestures. 

\--

Present Day:

“Princess Derora?”

Derora turned around to see a member of the royal household standing at the entrance of the garden house. 

“Your Majesty, we have been looking all over for you. Sir Mavriki and Sir Maurien are waiting for you.”

Derora swiftly nodded her head, realising that she as well as Maurien and Mavriki were going to be late for the conference. 

Derora was led to a white limousine, withMavriki and Maurien who were inside waiting for her arrival. Both were dressed in matching but inverted coloured extravagant suits of gold and white. 

“You’re late!” scolded Mavriki in an impatient tone, while tapping on a gold plated wristwatch. “Look at how much time you dawdled about, we are going to be late for a very important meeting!”

Mavriki’s fussiness prompted Derora to look at her wristwatch, where she let out a gasp upon seeing the time stated on her watch.

11.55 A.M

Maurien came to defend Derora to prevent his brother from berating her further, “Brother, Derora isn’t used to this, let her settle in a little more.”

Mavriki chose not to argue with them any further. He then entered the car, with Derora and Maurien following suit.

\--

The car drove off from the royal gates and out towards the civilian side of Ricca, Raiona’s capital. Once again, Maurien’s eyes were glued to the windows of the car, happy to see daily lives of civilians doing their daily activities.

While all that was happening, Mavriki was smiling to himself about the conference while Derora was, wondering why he was looking forward to the conference. She nudged at Maurien to get his attention and it prompted Maurien to ask Mavriki.

“He seemed very happy.” commented Derora.

Maurien observed his brother and replied while his eyes were on him. “It’s because he’s happy for your company and that it gave him confidence, compared to the last conference, I supposed.”

"What was the last conference about?"

It was in regards to something….personal." said Mavriki. “You don’t need to know as it doesn’t involve you.”

Though Mavriki wanted Derora to stay out of it, Derora still persisted further..

"Personal?" quoted Derora. “What’s personal about it?”

"I do not wish to discuss it but it was in regards to my personal life as well as the impact on how it affected both parties.” refused Mavriki, leaving it unanswered,

Maurien answered for Derora, “It’s in regards to his jilted marriage with his then ex-wife.”

Derora was shocked by the new information, "You were married before?”

"My ex fiancée to be exact, I was arranged to marry her by my father and our engagement lasted for less than two years which was broken up due to conflict.” scoffed Mavriki who didn’t want to explain further about the details.

“Mavriki was due to be married to a very wealthy duchess from here but there was a 'disagreement' that caused the marriage to be jilted" explained Maurien, feeling the need to answer Derora. 

"Not to mention that there wasn't much chemistry because she was after my royalty" dissed Mavriki. “She’s probably one of those gold digging bitches who wants a trophy husband.”

"But you guys were in love..right?" asked Derora who was filled with confusion. 

Maurien believed Derora wasn’t too familiar about it, "Derora…That’s not how an arranged marriage usually works.”

"It means that Mavriki was arranged to marry her?"

Mavriki replied in a rude manner as Derora stated the obvious, "No shit, Derora."

Derora remained quiet, feeling upset that she was in the wrong for asking such a question. Mavriki felt Derora’s sensitivity and tried to retract his statement, scooting over to Derora’s side to apologise, "Was I a little too brash? I am sorry, Derora darling. I will get you a designer handbag to make it up to you."

Maurien felt it wasn’t going to work, “I doubt Derora is fond of bags that those high-ranking noble women carry around. Those women do nothing but spend an exorbitant amount of cash on top-end handbags just to beat some noblewoman’s handbag collection.”” 

"Or anything that please her," 

Maurien then had a lightbulb moment, having thought of a gift that Derora would like. With a gleeful smile, he said enthusiastically, “Perhaps a dark chocolate cake?”

Derora was over the moon when she heard those words, "I like chocolate cake."

In a cheerful manner, Mavriki said, "Perfecto, will get the household staff to get you a fresh slice of cake. I know of a high end bakery that sells the best chocolate flavoured desserts" 

The car later pulled over to the entrance of the hotel where a sea of reporters and photographers were waiting outside for their arrival. Before the doors were open, Mavriki passed Derora a pair of cateye shaped designer shades for Derora to wear.

“It’s to protect your eyes from the flashing lights. I do not want my darling to get blind.”

Derora put them on while Mavriki and Maurien put on their own pair of sunglasses before getting out of the car. By the time Derora came out first before the rest, she heard her name being chanted, alongside being greeted with flashlights.

"Princess Derora!"

As Derora, Mavriki and Maurien were escorted by Darshani to leave the limousine, they were swarmed with the paparazzi once again. This time however, it was a hoard of journalists and cameramen who chanted Derora's name who were blocked by the barrier.

Derora could hear her name being chanted in the crowd as well as the names of Mavriki and Maurien. 

There were spontaneous flashes of light all around Derora from the camera flashes, but with help from the shades, it alleviated Derora’s dizziness. Derora focused on getting into the entrance where the security guards were waiting for her and the princes. 

The flashes lasted for a few moments before they entered a private lounge area which blocked any unauthorised entry from further access. As the door closed behind them, Mavriki removed his shades and settled down on a velvet couch.

"Sigh the damn paparazzi.” 

Then, he felt the urge of thirst that Darshani who was in the same room was called under Mavriki gesturing command. “I am parched from all the drama outside that I need a glass of sparkling water right away!”

He then turned his head towards Maurien and Derora. “Are both of you in need of a drink?”

Derora nodded ahead while Maurien made his order specific, “I would like to have a glass ofstill water.”

Mavriki groaned as he heard what Maurien wanted to drink, "You’re in a mood for cheap water? "

Maurien clarified, "I mean from the bottle. Distilled.”

"Good, because I do not want to see my little brother drink unfiltered tap water that peasants drink everyday and get cholera afterwards.”

Maurien assured his brother, “I’m pretty sure people would be smart enough to boil the water even if such a pandemic happened.”

Darshani came back with a tray of two glasses of sparkling water with a lemon on each glass as well as a glass of still water. Mavriki took a sip of the glass while Derora seemed fascinated with the bubbles in the glass before taking a sip. 

Maurien noticed Derora looking very anxious about something.

“Is something wrong?” asked Maurien.

Derora responded nervously, “I am just not too ready to face the crowd.”

Maurien, realising that it’s Derora’s first time in a conference, assured her, “You have the right to skip the question if you are uncomfortable saying."

"But by not answering it, wouldn't it raise suspicions?"

Maurien responded, "If you can’t answer it, don’t answer it. What seems to be the problem?”

Derora discreetly pointed at Mavriki who was busy talking to Darshani while pouring a second round of sparkling water in Mavriki’s glass before she proceeded to whisper in Maurien's ear.

"Mavriki forbids me to speak of my amnesia."

"Why can't you say that?" enquired Maurien.

"Mavriki is afraid that the opinions from others might be otherwise.”

Maurien somehow agreed, "That's true considering that if your amnesia is published, the people of Raiona won't be convinced that you're the real deal, seeing 'amnesia' as an excuse and thus, will deem you as a fake so it’s best if you don’t mention it.”

Derora clarified, "So saying amnesia would mean that I could be a fake?"

"I believe so as some people would take sympathy, but the harsh reality is that most might not accept it considering the people don't have faith in us…"

"Ever since three years ago…"

Derora caught wind of what Maurien said, "What happened three years ago?"

Maurien immediately covered his mouth, having to realise that he had slipped his tongue while saying that but because of his mistake, he had no choice but to answer Derora’s question, "There were other things that our people were not convinced about, like the embezzlement of the royal fund. The royal fund is reserved to improve the state of Raiona, but there were claims that Mavriki abused half of these funds for his own pleasure.” 

"And is that true?"

Maurien replied, "Half true as father had control of the funding that Mavriki took a ‘small sum’ that my father left a blind eye. After what happened, Mikaere requested to take control of the funding.”

Derora then realized that she hadn't met the king yet. "Now that you brought it up, I haven't seen your father since my arrival. What happened to him?"

Maurien reminded Derora. "He's ill-stricken and is on voluntary self-isolation."

"Will there be a chance that I will be able to meet him?"

Maurien shook his head, "I doubt it but maybe when he is a little better. He isn't in a mood to meet new people."

"Why so?"

Maurien shrugged. "I believe he doesn't want to lose face amidst the alleged scandals made within this family. From what I heard he also doesn’t want to answer questions involving that incident with..."

Then an image popped in Maurien's mind. The image of his dead brother.

"Him.”

"'Him'?" repeated Derora, confused at how Maurien was referring to. 

It then occurred to her who Maurien was talking about. "Oh, your late brother.”

Maurien nodded his head with a sulk in his face, "Ever since his disappearance, my late brother had unleashed a pandemonium that changed Raiona forever..."

Their conversation abruptly ended when Darshani came back to the lounge, “The conference is ready to start. Everyone is waiting for your arrivals.”

\--

The news reporters and journalists rose from their seats as the royals made their presence known. The moment Derora, Mavriki, Maurien and Darshani stepped in, some of the attendees made no hesitation to whip out their cameras to take pictures. 

Derora couldn’t help but notice a big sign in red, placed next to where she and the princes will be seated, 

"Only those with an authorization pass will be allowed to photograph or film this conference. Anyone unauthorized who defies this rule will be escorted out of the conference. "

Mavriki, Maurien and Derora sat down on their respective seats where Derora finds herself sandwiched between the princes.

With the royals seated, everyone else sat down and settled down before  
Mavriki took his microphone and made an introduction speech for the conference.

"I would like to thank you for making your way to the conference for your enquiries about the return of Princess Derora. After several private responses, the RHR as well as Princess Derora, have decided to respond to the enquiries.”

With that said, the press conference began to throw a barrage of questions at Derora but Darshani managed to intervene.

"One question at a time," said Darshani.

The first few questions were aimed towards Derora.

“Your Majesty, if I can ask, where were you during the last 10 years after the events of the Royal Carnage when everyone else in the royal family as well as around 75% of the population were wiped out? Why did you suddenly appear now?”

This was a no brainer as Derora responded by paraphrasing her sentence without mentioning her amnesia.

“It’s true, yes I survived but for the past 10 years, I was brought in through foster care, of which were unaware of my royal heritage. Hence, this entire time, I was raised in such a not so royal way for the last 10 years that I decided to seek help at Raiona.”

The words ‘Foster Care’ made people so astonished that they began talking among themselves. As the chatter intensified, Derora felt a little worried now that everyone in the room had developed an opinion of her.Most were surprised to hear such a story and wondered how she ended up in foster care, whereas the others felt this was a publicity stunt. 

She asked Mavriki, uncertain what she had said caused many people to doubt, “Did I say something wrong?” 

“No, not at all. Just a platter of assorted opinions.” assured Mavriki, putting his hand on Derora’s hands. 

The questions were now aimed towards Derora on her opinion about the Royal House of Raiona.

“Princess, what is your take on the Royal House of Raiona now that it is confirmed that you’re under their care, especially with the fact that Prince Mavriki is involved?”

Derora found the question generally easy to answer, “The Royal House of Raiona has taken great care of me since my arrival, especially Mavriki who was elated to hear about my return.”

Some people whispered among themselves upon hearing Mavriki’s name, much to the disdain of hearing his name.

“Apart from Mavriki himself, I received a warm welcome from Prince Maurien as well as the other members of the Royal House of Raiona… And Kayli Esparenza whom I believe has connections with the Royal advisor.” explained Derora.

The crowd talked among themselves after hearing what Derora had just said.

“The wild child Kaylista is involved in welcoming Derora into our shores?”

Derora was challenged with another question, “Have you met the King of Raiona yet? We, the people of Raiona have not heard about the King since now that Prince Mavriki is taking up most of his duties?”

Mavriki was about to call for Darshani to escort the reporter out but despite being rudely interrupted, Derora answered it.

“No, I have not met him yet but I believe he will see me soon,” said Derora, confident enough to meet Mavriki and Maurien’s father one day. 

Derora raised another reporter’s curiosity, 

“Derora, there has been speculation that you have been close to Mavriki since childhood from what some of the guests mentioned in your homecoming party. Is it true?”

Hearing that made Mavriki sick in the stomach. “Hey! This is getting off tangent. Please focus on the topic!”

However, Derora responded, “Yes it’s true.”

The reporters began to talk among themselves. 

“It’s true? Princess Derora and Prince Mavriki were close?”  
“Princess Derora, friends with that royal brat?”

Mavriki sighed, “This is getting out of hand. I thought I vetted all the questions but it turns out they are hiding their guns…”

Maurien somehow expected it to happen. “Well, they want a taste from us royals.”

Mavriki signalled Darshani to end the conference but a journalist stood up and demanded Derora to answer their question. 

“Princess Derora, with all due respect but since it has been mentioned that you and Mavriki are close, have you heard about his scandals that caused major uproar to Raiona for the last few years during your absence? If you had heard of them, how would you answer that?”

Derora stood quiet, having to just learn about scandals made by Mavriki from the embezzlement of royal funds to the jilted arranged marriage. 

Maurien got up from his seat and spoke, “Shall we proceed to the next que--”

“I don’t think Mavriki intended to commit the crimes.”

Maurien was appalled when he heard what Derora said, giving the reporters what they wanted. He leaned closer to Derora’s ear.

“Derora, do you know what you just said will cause controversy against you?”

“Maurien, let her continue.” defended Mavriki. 

Derora continued, “When I returned to the kingdom, Mavriki confided in me and said he had a hard time coping with news of my ‘death’, since both of us have been close friends for 10 years. It is because of that he committed the scandals. Yet, regardless of what he had done in the past, I know that Mavriki still has some goodness in him. In the past, Mavriki cared for my safety and for my well-being, so I am believing that his good-natured side will show over time during my stay here.

Maurien then noticed his brother having to agree with what Derora had said.

The reporters and journalists believed what Derora had just said and that her words sounded genuine. 

Mavriki got up to strengthen Derora’s statement. 

“Derora has been a close friend of mine and had helped strengthen the bonds between Raiona and Celine during the last few years before the Royal Carnage happened. Now that Derora is alive, I am glad she is alive again to finally say the good aspect of myself. It was because of her that I am finally able to realise all the bad deeds I did were wrong.” 

Mavriki’s words had a hint of regret as well as a little bit of genuinity. “I know today is all about Derora’s return, but since there are curious reporters who managed to sneak in some non-related questions that need more answers then Derora’s return, I salute you. That’s something that hasn’t been brought up for years in the making.”

Derora glanced over Mavriki, who was going to shed a tear or two, which prompted Maurien to pass him his handkerchief to wipe his tears.

The reporters looked at each other while they digested what they just heard.  
After a few moments of processing, they were quite convinced of what was said to them. Cameras began to snap the moment where Mavriki shed his tears.

“Mavriki isn’t cracking a joke,” said one reporter who felt the seriousness. “what Princess Derora stated sounded exactly true.”

One of the reporters stood up to ask Derora, “By all means, will you stick by Mavriki’s side?”

Derora did not hesitate, knowing that to her, Mavriki is essential for her personal goals of finding out her past. “Yes, why not?”

The reporters gasped, some surprised that she would still stick by his side despite the controversy that was claimed to be started by Mavriki while the others remained unsurprised by the decision made. 

Mavriki once again stepped in, “With the princess on my side, I believe that I can change myself for the better. Do put your faith in me once again for I admit my wrong doings.”

Out of nowhere, he gave a bow.

\--

After the conference, Mavriki, Maurien and Derora returned home where the royal household staff gathered to greet their superiors. Derora noticed the disgust on most of the faces of the royal household even though they tried their best to hide their disgust, hearing what had happened back at the conference

Derora heard a few whispers between two of the royal household staff. 

“I can bet you know that Princess Derora will soon be like Prince Mavriki now that it is known that Derora will stick by Prince Mavriki’s side. ”  
“How so?”  
“Wait and see. In about let’s say three months, Derora will soon kick up a spoiled and rude attitude, just like that son of a useless king!”

Hearing that caused Derora to have no choice but to drown in silence as she also heard the chuckles of both gossiping parties. Derora’s silent suffering ended when Mavriki immediately caught them gossiping.

“You, both of you!” shouted Mavriki. “How dare you have the audacity to gossip quietly in front of me, Prince Maurien and Princess Derora!”

Could Mavriki have sensed something that bothered Derora? Be it or not, Mavriki quickly came up with a punishment, announcing it on top of his lungs.

“For gossiping in front of me, I want you to write a 10,000 essay on why you should stay here as a household staff and apologize to me as well as Prince Maurien and Princess Derora for your actions! All are to be done by sun down in 3 days and if not done by then, you’ll be kicked out of the palace with immediate effect, is THAT clear?!”

The two household staff members nodded their heads and unwillingly acknowledged it. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Mavriki scoffed at both of them before dismissing the rest of the household staff, “Get out of my sight, you peasants!”

With that, Mavriki left angrily and the rest of the household staff returned to their duties, leaving Maurien and Derora in the entrance.

“Is that how Mavriki usually punishes the household staff?” asked Derora.

Maurien nodded his head and replied, “That is the lower tier punishment. You haven't seen the worst.”

“What’s the worst punishment?” asked Derora, curious to know.

“Well, the last person who faced the worst punishment not only had to do a 10,000 essay but as well as work a full week without tea break and do the plumbing. They were all to be completed in a week in which he failed and was banished not only from Ricca but away from Raiona.”

Derora wondered why such a severe punishment was given in which Maurien responded. “What was he punished for..?”

“Spreading ‘some fake news’ about Mavriki’s jilted marriage back then.” replied Maurien. “It was the talk in this kingdom back then. From what I heard from Kayli, it was, quote by her, ‘#1 trending’ in the media. “

Derora felt that punishment was harsh, “Do you think your brother needs to be a little nicer towards the household staff? Instead of giving them 10,000 word essays and all sorts.”

Maurien seemed to agree but he isn’t the one making the decisions. “Ever since Raiona lost faith in us, Mavriki decided to take extra ‘precautions’ to determine who is worthy to stay as a household staff. Since then, there have been dramatic changes in staff numbers over the last 6 years.dramatic changes in staff within the 6 year span.”

“Is it the fact that there were more punishments than usual or were they fired?”

Maurien dropped the bombshell. “It’s because the majority of our former staff volunteered to leave.”

Derora was left astounded to hear that the former royal household staff would rather leave by choice than to serve a difficult Prince. 

“From about a few hundred full time and part time working staff, the household staff numbers are now reduced to a good 150 full timers that when my father was active, he had to promised to give them a 4 digit paycheck to convince them to stay”

But Maurien added a bombshell, “But with my father ill, that 4 digit paycheck has yet to come. Instead, Mavriki gives them a measly 3 digit yearly paycheck, lower than 500 Raionai to the staff as well as no vacation breaks, which locks them from seeing their families for the rest of the duration.”

All this information was new for Derora to process but Maurien decided to keep a positive note out of it. “But I believe things will get better as time passes thanks to your intervention that is making things better here.”

He then assured Derora. “Everything will be fine, Derora. With proper guidance, I am sure that Mavriki will start being nice especially now that you’re around.”

Just then, a household member gently interrupted the royals. “Prince Maurien, Princess Derora. The tearoom is ready.”

“Excellent,” said Maurien. “I believe your chocolate cake has arrived, Derora”

Derora and Maurien proceeded to enter the tearoom where the table is already set with sweet treats and tea where the special of the day was an array of freshly baked salted caramel biscuits sprinkled in gold flakes. Alongside the treats was the decadent chocolate cake promised by Mavriki.

“Is Mavriki going to join us?” asked Derora, hoping that Mavriki would come to join them.

Maurien shook his head as a response. "He has work to do. I assume royal matters again.”

Just then, another household staff member creaked open the door, passing Maurien a oriental looking tin box . “This is from Sir Viktor and Lady Actaeon.” 

Maurien was happy to see the box, knowing what was inside. As the household staff was about to dismiss himself, Maurien stopped him from leaving and gave what appeared to be a cash tip. Seeing that gesture made Derora suspicious. 

Maurien was relieved about another thing. “I am glad Mavriki isn’t here now seeing me eat this, because it is what he calls a ‘forbidden fruit’. ”

Maurien looked like he was breaking a rule on forbidden items. What was inside the box that is considered illegal?

He opened the box revealing the inside to be contained with pastries of oriental origin.

“What’s that?” asked Derora, peering through the box out of curiosity. 

As Maurien took a bite of the pastry, the cross section of the pastry is revealed to be filled with bean paste.

“It’s red bean filled pastry or as known in Suseonhwa, it is Hwangnam bread.” explained Maurien who was starting to reminisce about something. “It was mother’s favorite pastry that used to be a Tearoom favorite when she was alive.”

He offered one to Derora. “Would you like some?”

Derora took one and ate a bite, feeling umami in her taste buds. “This is good, never tasted something like this before apart from just custard.”

Maurien listed out more recommendations. “Suseonhwa’s egg tarts and rice cakes are also a must should you enter Suseonhwa.”

The name ‘Suseonhwa’ rang a bell in Derora as it is the kingdom that Mavriki despised. Derora decided to ask Maurien in regards to that.

"Can you tell me more about Suseonhwa?"

Maurien was happy enough to explain, "Well, Suseonhwa is well known for its agriculture and down to earthness. Despite being a third world kingdom, it is managing well thanks to a committee established by my father who offered his support back then.”

Derora decided to ask Maurien the question that had been in Derora’s mind for a while. “Do you know why Mavriki isn’t fond of Suseonhwa?” 

Maurien did not expect Derora to answer such a question so he explained it anyway. 

“Mavriki sees it as a kingdom that would never succeed. Compared to Raiona, Suseonhwa is seen as a third world kingdom while Neo, Raiona, Adhaya as well as the perished Celine are more advanced than Suseonhwa. Also, he hates the culture there… despite being half blood of that descent.”

“‘Half blood’?“ quoted Derora, confused at first until she deciphered what he just said. 

“So he’s not a full Raionian and so are...?”

Maurien completed Derora’s sentence. “So as me and my late brother.”

Derora stated the obvious. “That means both of you are of mixed blood which means your mother is Suseonhwan?”

Nodding his head, Maurien confirmed Derora’s statement. “Yes, I am half Suseonhwan and the one of the first few Raionas of biracial heritage.”

Maurien then added something in regards to the Suseonhwan treats he received from his relatives. “Speaking of Suseonhwa, my maternal grandfather asked my relatives to pass me Mother’s favorite to me.”

Derora was confused why he received them on behalf of his grandfather, “Why can’t he pass you directly?” 

Maurien reminded Derora. “I can’t have any direct contact with them, especially since I'm a royal.”

“At least you can give them a visit?”

“I can’t just go and do casual visits just like that,” said Maurien. “Also, they are in Mezzo so that makes it hard for a royal to enter the middle class state. That is, if Mavriki can give me a permit to enter Mezzo grounds which is now unlikely.”

Derora then posed another question. “Do you miss them?”

Maurien lifted a smile as he sipped his tea. “Of course. I missed those days when my maternal relatives would regularly visit me and my brothers while my mother was still alive. We also used to celebrate the Suseonhwan New Year together as well, and I miss those times dearly. Sigh, it’s been 6 years since we’ve celebrated that together. 

Derora couldn’t seem to relate to what it was like having grandparents like Maurien’s surviving grandfather from his mother’s side. Nevertheless, her curiosity prompted her to ask Maurien something in relation to that.

“Did I have grandparents back then?”

Maurien placed his tea cup back on his cup saucer and poured Derora’s cup with a tea pot filled with tea.

“Yes, I did meet your late grandmother where she was known as the Queen Mother. She’s pretty strict towards everyone especially towards my family.”

“‘Queen Mother’?” said Derora.

Maurien explained the term. “It means the mother of either the king or a queen. In this case, she was your paternal grandmother meaning she’s your father’s mother”

With the topic being in relations of Derora’s then alive relatives, she dived in further into the topic of family. Derora leaned forward, with curiosity flaring in her eyes. “Do I have siblings? Uncles? Aunties?”

“No siblings, but definitely some uncles and aunties whom I have not met before,” said Maurien. 

Derora fired a barrage of questions at Maurien, asking him if he got along with his other relatives apart from Mavriki, his father, Viktor and Leia.  
His response was, “Not quite, I rarely interacted with my cousins and uncle Caiden who is currently overseas in Neo as their kingdom’s royal ambassador.”

“Any paternal grandparents?”

Maurien shook his head. “No, both died before I was born. To be specific, my brothers and I didn’t get a chance to see them alive.”

“Oh, I see.”

That answer sparked another question in her mind..

“Maurien, what is it like… to be in the royal family?”

Maurien somehow saw it coming, “A lot more different that you’d think, Derora. Compared to the amount of freedom Kayli has, we have less freedom since we are in the public eye. As the ruling family of this kingdom, we have to be very careful of our actions on what we do, how we behave and more...”

He gave an example to give Derora a better understanding on how a royal should be careful of their actions.

“For example, me and Mavriki were at a royal Christmas luncheon last year, where we were invited for a Christmas ball hosted by the Royal House of Adhyra by King Zauril. There, we were told that we have to do a random gift exchange, or what the civilians call it ‘Secret Santa’. Mavriki was tasked to give the King’s daughter Gladis and vice versa. While Gladis gave Mavriki an expensive gift, Mavriki gave her the opposite and that action had cost Mavriki bad press from the Adhaya.”

“That’s horrible,” said Derora, seeing that Mavriki had gone one level to disrespect anyone he hated, especially someone of different royalty. 

“Princess Gladis did not take it well actually. From what I heard from rumours, she had the gift auctioned off with the help of a childhood friend. I believe it’s a colleague that Darshani couldn’t get along with back then before he came here...”

Maurien was soon interrupted when Mavriki made his unannounced entrance. Upon seeing him, Maurien quickly hid the tin box from Mavriki’s sight before Derora became startled by his grand entrance once again. 

Mavriki shrieked from the top of his lungs in excitement, “Guess what, Derora!”

Mavriki proudly came over to Derora’s side and shoved his gold plated digital tablet on her face where she read the headlines. “Prince Mavriki finally apologises for wrong doing thanks to Princess of Celine.”

On the e-newspaper, it showed a paparazzi shot of Derora and Mavriki at its glammest moment rather than an unglam shot.

“We look good here.”

Apart from a good photo, Derora’s eyes focused on the words below the photograph.

“Crown Prince Mavriki has apologised to the press for his wrong-doing which includes the scandals that took place in recent years. It is also confirmed that Princess Derora had known Mavriki since their childhood days...”

Mavriki removed his tablet out of Derora’s sight, having not to be bothered by the press. “Don’t worry about the rest.”

Maurien felt the urge to add something with regards to the news. “Brother, I believe the words are more important than a glamorous photo of Derora as she has to be aware of what’s happening in Raiona politics.”

Mavriki brushed it off with this statement. “Well, my darling Maurien, a picture does speak a thousand words rather than 500 words of babbling nonsense that Derora doesn’t need to know much about,unless she’s the queen. ”

Maurien defended his statement. “But at least she should be armed with the basics. That and the fact that Derora is not properly… inculcated.”

Mavriki decoded what Maurien had suggested, “Are you suggesting Derora should be properly educated?”

“Well… a Princess staying with us should be well educated like us. It’s a pity that you’ve missed a good opportunity to have better education while you were away from the royal grounds for a decade.” 

“Well, I believe that would be...”

Derora replied, completing Mavriki’s sentence, agreeing that she should be educated by the royal way. “Important since it would be beneficial."

“Ah, she said it,” said Mavriki. “I can tell you, studies are boring.”

He turned to Maurien, “ But I get your point, Maurien. Women need decent education and Derora is fortunate that she has the best education materials available to her, so I guess it would be alright for Derora to start her education right away.”

Mavriki then tasked his brother. “Brother I am busy at the moment but please, do show Derora to the library where she will get an idea of how we were educated. I will do the necessary to get Derora to kick start her education.”

“Of course brother.”

-End of Chapter 4 Part 1


	6. Chapter 4 Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Derora settles in the lavish lifestyle of being a royal, an unexpected twist awaits her..

Year 3003

“Right so where were we?”

Queen Ezra was giving a tour of the library to her guests the King and Queen of Celine alongside their daughter Derora. 

“This is the palace’s royal library where we store the best books, encyclopedias as well as the royal history behind the RHR and its founding glory days,” introduced Ezra.

“I must say,” said Derora’s mother Demi, “This is way bigger than our library at home. How many books do we have back at home, Darius?”

Darius pondered for a bit, trying to estimate the number of books they have in the library. “Well, a good 7,500 reads in our possessions which includes the best literacy written by the best selling authors in Celine. Though... we do have some first edition copies of various authors from different kingdoms.”

Demi then noticed something so amiss that he questioned Ezra, “Ezra, aren’t you and the rest of Raiona too advanced? I heard that most of the public libraries in the Ricca state rarely have a single physical book at sight, but digital copies stored on rental digital devices.”

Ezra gave a chuckle, hearing what her Celinean counterpart had to say. “Yes, it’s true to say that but in this kingdom, a physical book here costs way more than its digital counterpart due to rarity.”

Darius came in, “But Raiona is split in two states which are Ricca and Mezzo. Wouldn’t a physical book in Mezzo cost as much since the civilians based there don’t have much accessibility to technology?”

“Well, there are second hand bookstores selling preloved books from the Ricca state that makes it accessible and cheaper,” 

As Ezra and Derora’s parents continued to talk, Derora moved away from the adults to look around, disappearing into exploring the rest of the library on her two little feet. The adults were too busy talking to each other until there was a loud sound that cut their conversations short. 

The adults rushed over to where they believed the sound was coming from, only to freeze as if they were seeing a crime scene. They saw Derora tearing up the pages of a book, with books from the bottom shelves strewn all over the floor. They were astounded to see Derora’s mouth stuffed with some of the torn pages.

“Oh my god,” said Darius, horrified to see his little girl wrecking his host’s library.  
Demi joined along who could not believe what she just saw, “Don’t tell me, I am dreaming?”

On the contrary, Ezra did not seem to be too bothered. She calmly approached Derora and gently removed the book from Derora’s hands. She placed the book on one side and told the little girl, “No no, Derora. This is not food.”

Derora looked up to Ezra like an innocent child as she was gently lifted up in Ezra’s arms. As she was lifted up, Derora picked up another book and put it back to its original place. 

“I apologize,” said Darius, “I will pay for the damages my little girl has done to replace whatever first edition book...”

Ezra cut off Darius’ statement. “No, it’s alright. My father has connections with the best high end librarians who may have duplicates of the damaged books, but thank you for the thought...”

However, Ezra mumbled to herself about something when she was looking at one particular damaged book. ”How am I going to explain to him that the birthday gift from his grandfather was damaged by Derora?”

“Is there something in your mind, Ezra?” asked Demi who was wondering why Ezra was talking to herself.

Ezra composed herself, “Oh, nothing. Just a little thought about royal affairs. Though, I need to bring Derora to play with the boys to avoid further havoc before we continue on with the royal tour.”

Derora was whisked away in Ezra’s clutches before leaving. Derora’s parents then followed Ezra out of the door. 

\--

Present Time 

Maurien led Derora to the private library, where the interior and the architecture resembled that of Renaissance architecture. Sunlight was penetrating through the stained glass ceiling, which made Derora stare at it intensely.

At the centre of the library lies a huge vacant platform space alongside a fancy looking gold telescope, surrounded by multiple stacks of bookshelves which were completed with vintage books bound in either hardcover canvas or leather. 

He picked up a few books from one shelf, leaving Derora to carry the books.

“You were at least a little educated during your time in foster care, correct?” assumed Maurien. 

Derora replied, “I was homeschooled during that time, but we had tests of all sorts.”

“Perhaps you haven't yet learnt advanced mathematics, accountancy, chemistry, physics, biology, geography, history and even royal arts?”

“Well, I only took part in language, art, basic mathematics and science classes when I was thirteen.”

“At least you know the basics,” said Maurien. “But here, we take things differently and on a royal approach that you definitely need to get back on track.”

He then shared to Derora what royal education was like, 

“Those who are born in the royal families are eligible to do a series of exams and bonus subjects, which is similar to the gifted programmes for Ricca’s richest private schools, except it is harder than that. Only Mavriki, my late brother, my cousins as well as the children of the current rulers of other kingdoms and I have already sat for the royal programme. Though I must admit, Empress Ericai of Neo’s daughter was very competitive and scored way higher than all of us.”

Derora asked Maurien, “How long and when do I have to complete this education programme?”

Maurien counted and factored the timing for Derora, “Usually a royal starts their education at the age of 6 and completes it by age 18…”

However, Maurien added a catch, “But given your case, you would have to take up the three-year crash course, which would include the advanced versions of the compulsory subjects you’d taken in the past.”

Derora felt that 3 years was a little too short to complete her royal education. 

“I don’t think I will be able to complete it within the 3 year time frame.”

Maurien assured Derora, “Don’t worry, you’ll be able to complete your education on time. If needed, Kayli and I can help along. Take it as you're in an integrated programme where you bypass certain levels of exams.”

“Kayli took the programme as well?” said Derora who was surprised to hear that Kayli took the royal education programme despite not being of royal blood.

“Sponsored scholarship in which the same goes for you.” clarified Maurien.

He then explained how Kayli got sponsored, “My father sponsored Kayli’s education after Kayli was kicked out from her then high school due to unknown reasons. Since then, Kayli always visited me to have tuition together since we were on the same level.”

Maurien picked up a few books for Derora to read. “Apart from just having a sponsored education by the RHR, you should at least start reading royal literature.”

Derora looked at one of the books she was carrying in a stack. For some odd reason, the book looked familiar.

Maurien turned around, and caught attention of the book that Derora was reading. 

“That is one of the tales written by my maternal grandfather for his fairy tale collection for me and my brothers. I heard the first edition was damaged by a guest here but my grandfather was quick to produce a copy to replace the other one.”

Derora flipped the pages of the book, which was mostly pictorial.

“You looked like you had seen this book before?”

Derora responded, “Yes I may have seen this book before.”

Maurien pondered, unaware about Derora’s flashback. “That’s odd, that book didn’t make its way outside of the royal palace, as there is only one copy specially made for us.”

Derora explained to Maurien, “I saw it in my flashback just now. I may be the reason why the book was destroyed.”

Maurien figured what Derora was trying to say, “And I believe you destroyed it unintentionally.”

She nodded, “I am so sorry.”

“It’s alright, Derora,” assured Maurien, as he took the book from Derora and stored it. He then picked up another book from the book shelf. As he was flipping through the pages, a bookmark dropped from the book. Maurien picked it up and examined it. 

“Why is there a bookmark here of all places...?”

Curious, he flipped the bookmark for a number and name to be written. It read, 

“If found, please return to Kaylista Esparenza at 2-1532020-8.”

“Kayli borrowed this?” thought Maurien where he looked at the title of the book Kayli borrowed and returned a while ago. Maurien gave a flushed look, seeing that the book title is a little provocative which is Kayli’s sort of read.

“What’s that?” asked Derora, peering through the book Maurien was holding until Maurien hid the book from Derora’s sight. “Ah! Something that you shouldn’t be reading, my dear! When you get a little older, then you’ll know”

First of all, how did such a book get its way into the private library?

Maurien led Derora to another section of the library where geography books were shelved. “Now that you’re in Raiona, you need to learn about our geography and the cities of Ricca and Mezzo, should you have any ideas to contribute to us.”

On the shelf, Derora observed that books on the left were related to Mezzo and the ones on the right were related to Ricca. . She was so mesmerized by a picture book detailing Ricca’s everyday life, that she said to herself, 

“I wish I could see Ricca in my own eyes.” 

Maurien felt that he can relate to what Derora had said. “I wish I can explore the rest of Ricca too.”

Derora turned to Maurien believing that there is a possibility to explore. “Is it possible?” 

An idea sprung in Maurien’s head. He looked at Derora, saying, “Come with me, Derora!”

Maurien grabbed Derora’s hand and rushed out of the private library to Mavriki’s study. Mavriki got a shock when Maurien opened the door without knocking.

“Goodness gracious, Maurien! Could you at least knock?” shouted Mavriki who was ticked at Maurien’s action, though his rage was quelled upon seeing Derora.

“Derora? You’re here too, why are you with my brother?”

Maurien then looked at his brother, “Brother, Derora and I are seeking your permission to...”

Mavriki looked at them upright, apparently looking anticipated to hear Maurien’s answer but not in a good way. “Permission for what? This better not be what I am thinking of..”

Maurien cut to the chase, “I need your permission to explore Ricca.”

Hearing that made Mavriki scoff. “An excuse to slide your way to that Esparenza minx?”

Maurien denied it even though a little of him inside wants Kayli to be part of it, “No, it’s because…”

Midway into his sentence, he looked at Derora as he continued, “Derora mentioned she wants to see Ricca with her own eyes.”

Mavriki seemed surprised but asked for further clarification, as he pointed the tip of his fountain pen towards Maurien before swivelling it towards Derora, “Did those words come out of Derora’s mouth or are you using her to get what you want out of your own gain?" 

Maurien stuttered, "Urhh...”

Before Mavriki could think otherwise, Derora came forward. “Yes, I told him that.”

Mavriki’s attention was diverted towards Derora. “ You really want to explore Ricca?”  
Derora gave an immediate response. “Yes.”

Mavriki was convinced. “Alright, you can go but with a few conditions.”

He then stated the conditions, “That is, the mall has to be closed before your arrival.”

“ ‘Closed down’?” said Maurien. “Why does it have to be closed down for us, isn’t it just a visit?”

Mavriki sighed, “Maurien darling, do you want to risk yourself getting multiple paparazzi shots of you and Derora and them getting huge profits? What IF they concocted a story, let’s say, you and Derora having rumoured to be dating on my arrangement!”

Hearing that made Maurien agree to what Mavriki had said.

Derora suggested something to make it not look like a date. “If Maurien and I go, can Kayli come along?”

Mavriki processed the question for a bit before coming up with an answer, “Yes, Kayli can come.”

Maurien couldn’t help but scream in excitement. He hugged Mavriki tightly as he was elated to hear that he and Derora as well as Kayli could go to Rizza together.

“Thank you brother!”

Mavriki placed his index finger on his slightly tinted lips. “Maurien, your voice could attract a thousand not so jolly bees working at this place. Keep it down, alright?”

Maurien immediately apologized while giving a sheepish smile. “Ah, sorry brother.”

“Make sure nothing happens to my Derora darling.”

Maurien realised that Mavriki didn’t mention if he was going to Rizza with them.

“Brother... you are coming along, yes?”

Mavriki responded as he was writing on some documents with his gold rimmed white marble fountain pen. “As much as I love to come with you and Derora, I am afraid I have to turn it down. I promised Father that I will be his proxy.”

Hearing that made Derora feel a little disappointed. Before she could convince him to come along, Mavriki made an unexpected dismissal of the two. 

“Right, I need to get things sorted out so do leave me for a bit? See you for dinner.”

The two nodded and left the room. As they left, Maurien noticed a frown on Derora’s face and tried to read her mind. 

“Don’t fret, Derora. Mavriki will join us one day as you have plenty of time now that you’re living with us. Would have been better if Father was active.”

Derora, however, didn’t seem comforted by Maurien’s words. Maurien didn’t dare to bother her anymore, so both of them parted ways. 

\--

Maurien returned to his room and reached out for the telephone on his desk. 

He referred to the bookmark Kayli had left while borrowing the book and dialed the number. Then the phone started to connect to the line.

Maurien told himself, “Come on, Maurien. You do have the guts to talk to her. It’s simple, ask her out.”

His thought process paused when Kayli answered the call.

“Hello?”

Maurien stammered, having not used to phone calls, “Hello.. .Kayli?”

Kayli was surprised to hear Maurien’s voice. “Mau? What are you... How did you get my phone number?”

Maurien hesitated in revealing where he got the number and lied, “Urm... I happened to find your number in the emergency phone list, in case Mikaere was unable to respond during his overseas trips.”

Kayli sighed and muttered, “Dad shouldn’t have left my number since I got nothing to do with his office work, oh my lord.”

Maurien chuckled hearing Kayli’s annoyance.

“Maurien, what’s the reason you called?”

Maurien blurted out, “I was wondering whether you’re free any time this week?”

“Oh? What for?”

“I was thinking that me, you and Derora should... well, tour around Ricca since Derora yearned to see the city just now. I already consulted with Mavriki about it.”

Kayli squealed in excitement, hearing that Derora and Maurien wanted to explore Ricca.

“Oooh, interesting! I am down for that but one question, what’s the arrangement gonna be like since you and Derora are coming along? After all, you both are royals, right?”

“Earlier, Mavriki said that he will have one particular shopping plaza shutdown for one day for us,” said Maurien.

“ ‘Shutdown’ ? Well, that ruins the fun of it. At least give them advanced notice so that security can be arranged.”

“I would have to agree on that since going there without it can be a little boring. I mean, a crowd of people would be nice.”

“So it means that you’re coming?”

“Duh, of course.”

“Brilliant,” said Maurien. “I will see you tomorrow then.” 

The phone hung up and with that, Maurien got up and started doing a little dance after overcoming the hurdle of asking Kayli out. 

Maurien and Derora were waiting for their ride to kickstart their outing.

Maurien chose to wear a simple ensemble of a white turtle neck top and black pants and loafers, while Derora chose to wear a casual silk midi dress and ballet flats.

As they were going to get into a car to kick start their adventure, Darshani stopped them from coming, who was tasked to deliver something to the both of them.

“Prince Maurien and Princess Derora,” called Darshani. “Before you leave, Prince Mavriki has prepared a surprise for both of you.”

Darshani extracted out a medium sized wooden box hidden under his cloak and opened the box, revealing two small metal cards.

She picked up the small metal cards. One card was coated in sapphire blue with a silver crest placed in the middle, with a few embossed numbers and the name ‘Derora Annette Celice’ engraved on it. The other card was a metal card glazed in gold, with the RHR crest in the middle, along with a few embossed numbers and his full name ‘Maurien Alastair Raiona’ engraved on it. 

She picked up the card and asked Darshani, “What’s this?”

Maurien kindly explained to Derora, “Well, my dear. That’s a credit card.”

Maurien was thunderstruck upon hearing that the item Derora was holding on was a credit card. 

“Wait, a credit card?!”

Darshani confirmed by nodding his head.

“Prince Mavriki had called the Royal Bank of Raiona to create two credit cards under his name and had them customized for you. Since he was unable to make it today, he decided to make these. Should you make a purchase, the money will be deducted from Mavriki’s personal bank account.”

Maurien’s eyes sparkled with joy, who was overjoyed to finally own a credit card, though it belonged to Mavriki. He was exhilarated with the thought of all of his upcoming purchases.

As for Derora, she was not familiar with how these sort of things worked. “Could you tell me how this works?”

Darshani noticed the confusion on Derora’s face when he decided to give her a few key things about it. 

“You can make purchases here be it locally or overseas in other kingdoms, but please do not reach the limit as the limit is 3 million Raionai. Mavriki will receive an additional fee should it exceed 3 million.”

Darshani added another warning, “Also, I would strongly suggest to put that away and keep it safe as losing a credit card could incur a huge loss, especially when it’s linked to royalty, where chances of the money being embezzled are high.”

Noting Darshani’s comment, Derora safely put the credit card away in her small white quilted purse. 

“With that, I wish you a nice day,” said Darshani who bowed as Derora and Maurien got into the car.

Maurien’s infectious excitement enticed Derora to fire a barrage of questions at him, as the car was on the way to pick Kayli up from her home.

“I see that you’re more excited to see the outside than me,” said Derora. “Have you been wanting to see the city yourself?”

“Yes, Mavriki didn’t really give me a chance to experience by myself due to his perception that most of the citizens here are ‘peasants’, excluding the high wealthy families that support and make generous donations to our family. I am glad that today is an exception. The only times I got to see a sight like this were during campaigns for my brother’s coronation and conferences.”

He then extracted what it appears to be a vintage looking camera. “This was a birthday present given by Kayli’s father. I heard a lot of the youths use it.”

He was about to explain but Maurien’s finger touched a button on the camera where it let out a flash, blinding both Derora and Maurien at once.

“I apologize,” said Maurien as he picked the camera up, checking whether it still works. “So this is how a ‘polaroid’ camera works.”

“What's a polaroid camera?” 

“It’s a camera that prints out photographs directly from the camera. I heard about this and wanted one out of my curiosity. Mavriki wouldn’t let me have it so Kayli’s father gave it to me as a birthday present. I didn’t get to give it a test drive until now.”

“Speaking of birthday presents,” Maurien asked Derora. “During your time in foster care, what did your caregivers give you a birthday present?”

“I don’t have birthday presents,” said Derora. The answer surprised Maurien. “Birthday presents are part of birthday tradition. At least there’s a cake?”

Derora nodded, “Yes, they only prepare a birthday cake and a little gathering every year.”

“When is your birthday?”

“August 25th.” 

“That is during the fall season, so it’s likely Mavriki would host you a fall themed birthday party, probably with maple flavoured food.”

Their conversation was soon cut short when the car door suddenly opened. It was Kayli, who made her way inside.

“Thanks for tagging me along,” said Kayli. 

It seemed as if there was a subtle difference in Kayli’s clothing. Maurien and Derora expected her to dress in her usual plain style, but Kayli dressed a bit more extravagantly than usual. This time, she was clad in a midi dress and wore white sneakers. However, there was more than a subtle difference on Kayli today, as Maurien and Derora were expecting Kayli to come as who she was but Kayli wore something unlike her usual style, a midi dress but a hint of rebellion with white sneakers.

“The dress is from Guinevere?” guessed Maurien, who was well versed in designer brands thanks to his brother. 

“Yepe, sponsored by Mikaere Democritus,” responded Kayli, calling her dad by his full name. “Dad heard word of this and made no hesitations to make me look more presentable. He immediately made arrangements with a royal atelier to get me a better-looking dress.”

“I see that Mikaere has some connections,” said Maurien. It then occurred to Maurien that Mikaere was aware of it. “Wait, how does he know that you’re coming with me today?”

Kayli groaned and showed Maurien her text exchanges with her dad on her phone. “My dad has this app that tracks my phone calls and have the ability to hear my conversations recorded from his phone so I got nothing to hide”

“Well, you’re in the care of one of the strictest families in Raiona,” said Maurien. 

He then complimented Kayli's look. “You look presentable.”

Kayli didn’t hear it at first. “What?”

Maurien shot up, flustered and gave two thumbs up awkwardly. “I mean you look beautifully different, having to always see you wear your ‘streetwear’ but today is a big contrast.”

She gave a chuckle, seeing Maurien fluster in a cute way. “Aw, Maurien, you’re so sweet.”

Kayli then asked about the itinerary, “What’s the plan today?”

Maurien explained the plan, “Today we’ll be going to a mall which is closed for us, just the shops will be open and high security will be maintained.”

Kayli folded her arms, disappointed to hear that the mall will be closed for them. “Hmph no fun, would be fun if there were interactions with the peasants as how Mavee refer them to and it’s not like we are having a world pandemic as of now”

“I would prefer that too, but at the same time, it will give the royals like me and Derora anxiety and nervousness should we interact with the citizens,” explained Maurien.

Kayli couldn’t help but counteract her opinion. “Oh come on. It can’t be THAT bad. You royals need to learn what’s like in my shoes. You two can’t be this secretive all the time and loosen up a little bit.”

“Well, if we do loosen up, we might have a few slips in our tongues,” said Maurien. “So it is royal protocol to keep ourselves on guard.”

“Even during the time where your diva brother gave an exception? Come on, Mau. One day. At least it’s good time since the mall is closed from the public reserved for you guys”

Derora was drawn into Kayli’s suggestion and told Maurien. “I shouldn’t have a problem with that.”

Maurien turned to Derora, having to develop a little concern. “Derora, that’s not how being a royal works…”

Kayli interjected Maurien’s statement. “Well at least she’s open out of the box that is!”

Maurien sighed, trying to tell Kayli not to give Derora ideas. “Don’t encourage her, she’s a royal...”

The trio have arrived at their destination. Upon leaving the car, the first thing they caught sight of was the entrance of the mall, with the security staff waiting for their arrival. 

Kayli groaned seeing the quantity of security on patrol, “Is it THIS necessary to have a whole bunch of security guards patrolling the place? It’s not as if someone is going to be robbed unless Mavee is here in the scene.”

Maurien couldn’t help but laugh at Kayli’s disdain of experiencing what it’s like as a royal. “It’s just one day, Kayli. Now you know how I feel on the inside.”

While Kayli continued to rant to Maurien, Derora couldn’t help but marvel at the shopping mall, as she had never ever seen a shopping mall before.

“What are we going to do in the mall?” asked Derora who was unaware of common mall activities. 

Kayli immediately answered Derora's question with a smile on her face. “Well, like what normal people! Shop ‘til they drop, get a simple manicure and eat some good food.”

Another suggestion came to Kayli’s mind, “Oh, and watch a movie! I know what are the biggest box office hits so let’s watch some!”

Maurien, Kayli and Derora entered the mall where Kayli took Derora and Maurien by the hand and showed them around. 

Despite a few security guards watching over the nobles, Kayli pretended to ignore them and took them to places of recommendation, starting with a milkshake bar. Kayli proceeded to order a few milkshakes for Derora and Maurien to try out.

Derora seemed to be a novice when she was picking a flavored milkshake for herself, while Maurien chose to try out basic milkshake flavours. 

“Try this, Dee Dee. This is the new honey lemon sorbet infused milkshake which is an annual seasonal flavour!” said Kayli as she shoved the milkshake towards Derora’s side. Alongside the honey lemon milkshake, Kayli had suggested the other flavours which include rose syrup milkshake, blue lagoon infused milkshake and pandan leaves flavoured milkshake. Seeing the exotic array of milkshakes had seemed to open up Derora’s world of flavours as well as Maurien’s curiosity to try them.

Kayli immediately came up with the next thing, “Ah! I know a few blockbusters in the cinema but since you two have a silver spoon, I can suggest this movie which is quite a hit and royal-friendly.”

She then thought of some add-ons. “And maybe some treats like caramel salt popcorn and a few sodas.” 

The trio have watched a few movies alongside having done a little shopping, turning Kayli extremely jealous that Derora and Maurien have their own credit cards. 

\--

The trio returned back to the Raiona palace where the household staff unload the shopping goods bought by Maurien and Derora themselves from earlier.

“Welcome home, Princess Derora and Maurien,” greeted the household staff with a smile on their faces. They were surprised to see Kayli but greeted her like their superiors. 

“It’s a little early for dinner,” said Derora, peering at her wristwatch. “What should we do now?”

Maurien made a suggestion. “Right, I suppose Derora and I need to freshen up for dinner.”

Kayli caught what Maurien said, “Wait, ‘freshen up’?”

Maurien sighed as he explained to Kayli what he meant. “Well, Mavriki is very particular of our clothing choices. For dinner in which the royal kitchen is busy at the moment preparing a meal, I have to dress up as if we are going for a mini dinner gala.”

Kayli raised her brow, “Well your outfit now is good enough to be worn for a few more hours before you hop into the shower and get changed in your jammies.”

“Thank you but I have to do what Mavriki tells me or he will go for the kill with a fashion critique if me and Derora don’t do something about it.”

With that, Kayli groaned. “So what am I going to do while you two get occupied with the unnecessary?”  
Maurien suggested something that would buy Kayli some time. “How about you can roam around the castle? I will give you permission on that.”

“Ooh, can I break something?” jested Kayli.

“No, please Kayli!” shouted Maurien, taking Kayli’s words seriously

“Nah, I kidding. Don’t take it as a joke, Mau Mau!” 

As a result, Kayli made her move, leaving Derora and Maurien within the hallways,

With that, Kayli is left the freebird as she is, roaming the royal residence without a superior, especially her absent father, to stop her.

\--

Kayli was left by herself in the hallway as she was waiting for Derora and Maurien. 

She then had a thought to keep her occupied, "Dad wouldn't let me see his office."

With her father away at the moment, she immediately decided to explore her dad's office while waiting. She apparently had a great sense of direction and within 10 minutes, she managed to find the door to his office. Even though the door had a biometric lock, she opened the door with ease. 

Astonished, Kayli thought, "Usually Dad locks the door, but I guess the maid forgot to lock the door after she had finished cleaning.”

She then examined the office as she turned on the lights. She was graced with the aesthetics of her father's office, where almost all the furniture had a hint of gunmetal black and white marble with a hint of pastel blue. She then tried to open a drawer from her father's desk but it was all lock and eye.

"At least he locked away his important stuff," said Kayli. She then noticed the portrait hung onto the wall. It was her father alongside a woman in pale complexion with silver azure blue hair and matching eyes and a matching outfit. 

“Ah, my late mama.” thought Kayli, seeing the portrait of her late adoptive mother. “I never knew she was this beautiful.”

She noticed other portraits laid on the top of the cabinet, ranging from Mikaere’s younger days to the early stages of Kayli’s life.

As she continued to explore, she heard footsteps from outside. 

"Oh shit," said Kayli as she immediately went on panicking, assuming a household staff doing their nightly checks in all the rooms to detect any unwanted visitors.

She ran over to turn off the lights and initially intended to hide in the cupboard. Seeing that her father had locked all the drawers and even the cupboard, however, she realised that she had only one option left. 

Kayli sneakily crawled towards the window and slowly opened it. She then climbed out and crept up the window ledge. 

"It won't take like a minute, hopefully," thought Kayli as she tried to balance herself.

She heard the door open and bit her lips. She heard the door closed but as soon as she thought that it was only for a few seconds, she almost fell out of the window as she heard a familiar voice.

"Why are we in Sir Democritus’ office and not in your office?”

That was Darshani’s voice.

Kayli took a peep from the window, only to see Mavriki was seated on the leather chair while Darshani was standing in front of him. The only light source was a dim light from the study lamp on the table.

Mavriki replied to Darshani’s query, 

“Well, since his office is empty and that we are going to be here for a few minutes, I managed to hack through Mikaere’s door code a few minutes earlier so we can take this opportunity to discuss what I have been planning so far” 

From behind, her eyes caught Mavriki holding a green leather bound book.

"Derora remains oblivious about this," said Mavriki as he lit up a smile. "She will never know the truth."

Kayli was drawn into the conversation secretly. What was he talking about?

Mavriki continued , "She now believes that she is now safe in my care and she seemed to be settling in but now that I got her trust..."

He then lifted an emerald leather bound book at his grasp, "If it weren't for this earlier before Derora appeared in Raiona, I would have thought she was one of those peasants in the streets.”

Kayli covered her gaped mouth, shocked at what she just heard. 

"Thank god I didn’t dispose of this precious book that belonged to my late twin brother, while I was getting rid of his belongings a few days before Derora’s impromptu arrival. I didn’t know it provided a lot of information with regards to the friendship between Derora... and him.”

Kayli froze. The actual person Derora was looking for was not Mavriki but the brother whom both Mavriki and Maurien lost. 

With the fact that he is apparently gone for good, Derora’s quest for her memory finding was botched with the new information that Kayli just learned.

Mavriki let out a chuckle as he continued, "Finding the journals of my late brother is now the key to becoming king. I feel bad puppeteering Derora into this but it's the only way to get what I want, to increase my chances to become king sooner.”

Darshani then made Mavriki’s motives clear, “So using your brother’s journals, you’ve been deceiving Derora into thinking that you’re the one she’s looking for, am I correct?”

“That’s correct, Darshani,” said Mavriki as he grinned cunningly. “Looks can be very deceiving indeed. Maurien is such a fool. He believed that lie that I was the one who was close to Derora, instead of my twin brother. Then again, he can’t differentiate between me and that disgraceful bastard, since we are both unfortunately twins.”

He then got up from the chair and gave a proudful grin, “My grand plan is coming along and that blur squid princess has no idea what’s coming for her.”

Darshani asked further questions, “So what do you plan to do now that she’s already settled in?”

Mavriki pridefully responded, “Well, let her settle in more then I will strike a surprise to secure her into a deeper trap.”

Kayli, who was still eavesdropping on the whole thing, felt that she needed to warn Derora immediately. She felt that she couldn’t hide in her hiding spot any longer before she lost her balance and gave a deadaway that she was eavesdropping.

Fortunately, both Mavriki and Darshani decided to take their leave, giving Kayli the green light to climb back into the room. She immediately darted out of the building, aghast of the information she had just learned.

“Holy shit.” thought Kayli, appalled that Mavriki had all along been masquerading as the other twin brother that Derora was looking for.

“How am I going to tell Derora about this?”

-End of Chapter 4 Part 2


	7. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mavriki's scheme in manipulating Derora is showing promising results until someone comes forward to expose him where chaos ensues!

Kayli made her way to the dining hall where Derora, Maurien and Mavriki were awaiting her arrival. 

“Ah, Kayli. I heard you were busy exploring the royal grounds. How was the unsupervised tour?” asked Mavriki. 

Kayli’s eyes glared towards Mavriki but hid her scornful expression with a smile painted on her face. “It was pretty... swell.”

Maurien gestured to Kayli to sit next to him while dinner was being served.

A representative from the royal kitchen alongside the household staff went to serve the dishes about to be presented and described, 

“Today’s menu begins with the appetiser, foie gras with caramelised apples. Next, we have the main course, premium gold foiled steak made medium rare, topped with mashed potatoes and asparagus. We end it off with the sweet desert, sticky date pudding with vanilla bean ice cream.”

Kayli’s eyes glistened at the dishes presented in front of her and proceeded to take photos using her cell phone. Derora on the other hand felt whatever was laid on the table was alien to her. 

Mavriki took notice of Derora staring at her plate. “What’s wrong, Derora?” 

“Nothing, just the food looks a little... strange.”

“It’s what we eat as royalty. Get used to it, my dear.” said Mavriki who lifted a smile on his face. 

Throughout dinner, Kayli has been staring intently at Mavriki’s every move he makes towards Derora. 

She soon thought to herself, “That bastard has been plotting all this while eh? Mavriki takes advantage of Derora and lies to her for almost everything. Taking advantage of being the twin brother eh? Can’t believe he still has more than a bit of evil inside of him...”

Her thoughts were soon interrupted thanks to Maurien who took notice of Kayli’s blackface.

“Is there a problem?”

Kayli shot up upon hearing Maurien’s voice and composed herself quickly before Maurien could arouse any suspicion.

“N-nothing! I am just looking at how close these two are,” said Kayli, pointing at Derora and Mavriki with the fork.

Maurien sighed, seeing what Kayli did was probably a rude gesture. “Kayli, don’t lift your fork like that, it’s rude.”

Kayli scoffed, feeling like she had been scolded by her father over etiquette and put her fork down.

“Right, right, I shouldn’t have done that.” 

Kayli continued to watch Derora and Mavriki with the corners of her eye.

“Derora doesn’t know it yet but somehow, I hope it isn’t too late to tell her. I need to think of a way to tell her sooner,” thought Kayli.

\--

Kayli already left the royal palace as she was escorted to a car that would send her home. As the clock struck twelve, the royal residence was silent with lights dimmed out, with the royal household staff retiring to their dormitories to rest before another hectic day. 

Meanwhile, Mavriki was in his room, reading the suspicious leather tome in his hands. His eyes laid on a handwritten page where he read in thought. It says,

“Derora is someone who loved everything surrounding her, especially her precious dolls. She is so curious about the world outside the royal walls of her home Kingdom of Celine but her overprotective mother wouldn’t let her. I wish I can bring Derora around to have a glimpse around the world…”

He was interrupted with a knock on the door. Mavriki gave a heavy groan, hiding the book behind his pillow. He went towards the door and was ready to scream at the person who knocked on the door, assuming it was one of the household staff. However, it wasn’t the case.

“D-Derora?” 

Derora was standing in front of Mavriki, dressed in her nightwear. She folded her arms as she entered the room. Mavriki wasn’t prepared to see Derora like this but decided to continue his game of deceit, impromptu style. 

With a faint smile lighting up his gentle face, he wondered why Derora was awake at this hour, “My darling Derora, what’s wrong?”

He sat Derora down on his bed. Derora seemed to muster up her courage about something.

“Derora, darling,” said Mavriki. “What seems to be the matter?”

Mavriki lifted Derora’s chin up to look at him in the eyes but Derora resisted.

“I am a little upset that you didn’t come along with me earlier today.”

It turns out that Derora had been hiding her disappointment about Mavriki not coming along earlier.

Mavriki felt that Derora wasn’t clear in his explanation and replied in a slightly annoyed tone, “Well, as I mentioned earlier, I am busy. You should understand that a crown prince, especially the oldest, has to assist his father, the king, in royal affairs should the king be not able to fulfil his royal duties...”

Derora tried her best not to throw a fit, “But, I feel you need a day off since you’re always busy.” 

Mavriki scoffed, “Well, I can’t just have a day off like that, Derora. I already gave you and Maurien each a customized credit card under my name, so whatever you have spent is my treat and you’re still not happy with that?” 

Derora defended herself, “No, it’s just… I want something else...”

Mavriki clicked his tongue as his eyes looked disdainfully towards her. “What?”

Derora felt Mavriki was being a little rude and got up from the bed. “I just want to spend time with you, the old days...”

Mavriki gave a surprised look on his face while Derora looked down, feeling that she was being rejected by the person whom Derora used to be close to at her pre-amnesia stage. 

He came up with an ‘apology’ to ensure this won’t go the wrong way. 

“Look Derora, I am very stressed and I am sorry that I was a little impolite just now… you need to understand how the royal family works.”

She then took his word. “Alright, I should be more understanding then.”

Mavriki explained to Derora, “Having responsibility over the kingdom is very tough and I seem to be the only breadwinner to deal with this. What if you’re in the same shoes as me, since you were supposed to be the next ruler of your own kingdom should the royal carnage didn’t happen?”

Derora nodded her head, believing that she has to get used to this new reality. “Alright then, I believe in you, Mavriki.”

She then went on to ask Maviki about the one person whom Derora should have met when she first stepped into Mavriki’s care, “Tell me more of your father.”

“Why do you want to know about my old man?” enquiried Mavriki.

Derora jumped into the opportunity to ask Mavriki of what his father did ‘a lot for Raiona’. “What has he done for the past years, before he handed over his authority to you?”

“Let’s see. He restored law and order between Ricca and Mezzo and gave away a million Raionai easily to the peasants.”

Derora was taken aback by Mavriki’s opinion on donations, “Isn’t it good for your father to be generous and donate to whoever is in need?”

Mavriki realised this and took back his words, “Ah yes, I forgot he’s generous but I get your point. Unfortunately, my father hasn’t been able to donate as much as he used to since his health has been deteriorating. Since then, a lot of matters have been left unsettled in Ricca, and that resulted in an imbalance between Ricca and Mezzo.”  
Derora decided to tell Mavriki, “Do you think it’s time to restore whatever your father laid out while he was still active?”

Derora, however, feared that she would be judged for bringing up this personal issue. Fortunately, Mavriki didn’t press in further. 

“That I cannot promise anything, but we’ll see about that,” said Mavriki. “But this shouldn’t be your concern, Derora.”

Mavriki changed the topic, “About your royal education, you’re due to start the programme in a few days time. You will be taking the same subjects as me and Maurien, except a few others that are relevant to the history of Celine.”

“You mean you and your brothers?”

“Right, thank you for the correction,” said Mavriki, “However, I would prefer if it’s just me and Maurien. The other one should be swept away under the carpet.”

Derora couldn’t help but ask why, “Did he do something wrong?”

Mavriki gave a scoff as he answered and dismissed the topic at the same time, “Well, yes but you do not need to know about him as he has nothing to do with you.”

She felt that the question she asked was not up to Mavriki’s liking so she decided to dismiss it. 

“You should go to bed, Derora. Your beauty isn’t going to be all great to the public eye if you stay up too late.” said Mavriki. 

Mavriki then looked at the digital clock mounted on the wall. “Chop chop to bed that is.”

Derora got up and went towards the door but before that, she looked at Mavriki with a smile. “Good night, Mavriki.”

She then proceeded to close the door. As the door closed, Mavriki lowered his head and let out an evil chuckle.

“Derora, oh, Derora...”

He lifted his head with a grin painted on his face, “You won’t know what’s coming for you, my darling. You will NEVER know the truth.”

\--

-A week after Derora’s discovery, the city of Ricca was back in a peaceful state. The people were speaking highly of Derora whom they believe she could create an impact in the history of the Kingdom of Raiona.

Meanwhile in the palace, Derora was sitting on a couch, watching the news from a plasma TV screen mounted on the wall where she was updating herself with the news. 

"It seems that Raiona is now a few steps away from regaining its former glory. Ever since the last living Celinean royal's unexpected return, the economy has improved and business has been booming. Specifically, shops owned by those of Celinean heritage have seen a huge uptick in sales since they leveraged the Princess’ return.”

As Derora continued to hear the news, the TV was suddenly switched off. At first she thought that the TV had malfunctioned but Mavriki appeared to check on Derora. "My, my, Derora. I see that you have an interest in the news now."

"Just wondering what's happening outside." said Derora

Mavriki smiled, seeing Derora interested in such a topic. "My darling is always full of curiosity."

He pulled Derora out of her seat and led her out of the room. Where was Mavriki taking her to?

"How about a little teatime?" suggested Mavriki. “I have a marvellous assortment of titbits that was just sent by a high end bakery and I would love for you to try with me.”

Mavriki escorted Derora to the tea room, where she was treated to a table filled with a rich assortment of tea treats and tea bags, all of which were chosen by Mavriki himself. Derora was in awe seeing the gold-flake coated eclairs and sky-blue coloured vanilla bean macarons, along with a wide tea selection of earl grey and Raionian breakfast tea lying on the tea table.

But another pressing question started floating about in Derora’s head. How is Mavriki free at a time like this?

"Shouldn’t you be attending to royal duties?" said Derora. 

Mavriki explained to Derora with a smile. "There were some documents I couldn't fulfil as it’s in an alien language, so Darshani is handling on my behalf as my translator."

"What language does he translate from?"

"The Adhayan mother tongue, which is Darshani's mother tongue. Fun fact, Darshani is well known to be a polyglot, since he is fluent in almost all of the languages known in the land." said Mavriki, sipping onto his Raionian breakfast tea. 

He added an exception with a little bit of hostility, "Except Suseonhwan."

"What?" 

Mavriki brushed it aside, "Oh nothing, Derora. You shouldn't know as it has nothing to do with you."

Despite being told off to mind her own business, Derora wanted to know. "I can tell you hate Suseonhwa, why is that the case?"

At that point, Mavriki knew he couldn't avert away from the conversation and knowing that Derora is highly curious about almost everything, he decided to give in, even though he couldn’t say much..

"Well, I hate their people and culture," said Mavriki. "Everything they do is a dirty act."

Derora pointed something out. "But aren’t you half Suseonhwan?"

Mavriki was surprised but upset that Derora discovered his ethnicity, “Which source did you hear this from?”

Derora revealed, "Maurien told me."

Mavriki's minor fury toned down upon hearing Maurien's name. "Oh my baby brother told you. Ah, well. I can't avoid that fact, but yes, my dad married a commoner whom he loved."

"Then why do you still hate them? " persisted Derora. "I mean from what I know, you used to be appreciative of your other side?"

Mavriki placed his tea cup down and clarified, "That's not always the case, dear. I prefer my Raionian side than the Suseonhwan side as I have to do whatever it takes to make this a better kingdom."

He then 'affirmed' Derora (so that he could continue deceiving her without raising suspicions), "But do not worry Derora. I don't fully hate my Suseonhwan side."

Derora found it odd. Compared to her recent flashback of him having to embrace his Suseonhwan roots, Mavriki seemed to show a little bit of negativity. To Derora, maybe that 'little bit of negativity' came about when she was absent from the royal scene. 

She realised one more thing and asked Mavriki pertaining to her flashbacks. "How come you stopped calling me 'Rora' ?"

Mavriki raised his brow, seemingly confused. "What? 'Rora' ?" 

Derora was surprised to see Mavriki's reaction as she expected an immediate answer. 

"Why would I call you Rora? Sounds like… as if you're fat." 

"Wait... what?" said Derora, shocked to hear that comment from Mavriki. 

Mavriki gave a prideful smile, “Whoever gave you that pathetic name is low class. You should be called by your full name, not some pathetic name.”

Derora decided to get up and leave, "Excuse me."

Mavriki watched Derora leave and by the time she left, Mavriki's pride sunk into paranoia.

"What did I just say wrong?"

Mavriki began to worry whether he screwed something up in his conversation until he realised his mistake. "Oh shit." 

He worried further in his thought process, "Did he call her ‘Rora’? I don’t recall him writing that name on the text."

He then got up and thought further, "Did I overlook the part where he called her ‘Rora’?"

He got up and thought of a plan to balance out his grand scheme. "How do I apologize to Derora?"

In the meantime, Derora was walking out from the room, in disbelief.  
"He really did forget some things that were essential for my memory finding. Either that or...”

She then shook her head, retracting the last few words.

“No, maybe he isn’t lying after all. Maybe he just forgot about that detail during my 10 year absence. But... how could he have forgotten about that so easily?”

She branched out what could have caused Mavriki to forget this easily.

“Could he have been so busy with royal affairs that he forgot about it?”  
“Maybe it’s been too long since we've been separated from each other.”

However, Derora was missing one thing that she was unaware of; the fact that she was being used as a ruse for Mavriki's grand plan to become king sooner.

As Derora was caught in a sea of thought, Maurien walked past before realising he passed by Derora.

“Derora, what’s wrong?”

Derora had drawn Maurien’s attention, seeing him concerned and all.

“Nothing...”

Maurien tried to make Derora talk it out, “It has something to do with Brother, yes?”

Derora can’t help but nodded her head. “Yes...”

Maurien was taken aback by what he just heard.

"What did Mavriki say to you?"

Derora didn't want to detail it. Seeing Derora's discomforted made Maurien hold back from questioning her even further.

“It’s alright if you can’t tell me. I can ask Brother what is going on between you tw--”

Derora rejected Maurien’s offer, “No, please. I don’t want my friendship with Mavriki to be jepasized. Maybe I can settle this on my own…”

As Derora continued further, they were approached by Darshani.

“Princess Derora, Mavriki wishes to see you.”

\--

Derora was summoned to Mavriki’s office, unaware of what was to come.  
The first thing her eyes caught was the expression on Mavriki’s face, seemingly showing regret of what had happened earlier.

“You wanted to see me?” asked Derora.

Mavriki got up from his seat as Derora looked at the emerald orbs on Mavriki’s eyes. 

“I... need to tell you something. It’s been so hard coping with your ‘death’. Ever since you disappeared, I’ve had so many pressing thoughts about you. I was overjoyed to hear of your return, but because of that, I’ve thought about you even more than before. Now that you’re finally here, I just wanted to ask…”

From the looks of it, it sounded like he wanted to confess something to her. 

True enough, he then lowered himself down by one knee, causing Derora to be confused for one moment. He then pulled out the rose bud shaped box from his pocket and opened it, revealing something inside. 

Derora covered her mouth seeing the content in the tiny box. It was none other than a ring! This ring, however, was no ordinary ring. It was a gold ring with a very expensive diamond embedded in it. 

"Derora Annette Celice," said Mavriki, calling her by her full name. “will you be my...”

Before Mavriki could complete the question, there was a commotion outside the door.

"Lady Kaylista! You shouldn't enter the Prince’s office like this...!"

-End of Chapter 5


	8. Chapter 6 Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derora and Kayli are up for the great impromptu escape that led to the consequences of Kayli's actions alongside an unexpected 'betrayal' !

The doors burst open, revealing Kayli while being restrained by a few of the household staff. 

Upon seeing her, Mavriki got up, closed the box and put it back in his pocket, angered at Kayli intruding like this. 

"Kayli, that is very rude of you to come in without prior notice. Can't you see Derora and I are busy?"

Out of nowhere, Kayli shouted, “Derora, stay away from Mavriki!”

Mavriki snorted at what Kayli just said, "Pardon me? Are you still hungover from last night?"

But strange enough, Kayli looked all sober than what Mavriki had claimed.

She then released herself from the restrain and glared at Mavriki in the eye.

“Excuse your rude ass, but Derora needs not be deceived by someone with Malakai’s face.”

A word from Kayli’s sentence began to tick Mavriki off, “How dare you mention the dead bastard’s name here!”

Derora was confused. “Wha-What is going on?”

Kayli ran towards Derora and grabbed her by the arm, dragging her to Kayli’s side.  
"Mavriki is manipulating you! He’s using you!”

Mavriki denied, “I have no intention to harm the Princess out of necessity. Whatever Kayli said are blatant lies, concocted by the trouble herself!”

Hearing that made Kayli's blood boil about the false accusation against her. 

"Shut up, Mavee!" shouted Kayli. "I heard it from my own two ears. You’re up to no good!”

Mavriki stood silent and moved his eyes, trying to hide the shock that Kayli had eavesdropped the conversation last night.

"Esperanza, I suggest you should leave before I call security!"

Mavriki was about to reach out for the distress button underneath his table until Kayli stopped him from doing so.

“What do you think you’re doing, Esperanza?!” shouted Mavriki.

While the two were fighting over a distress button, Derora stood there and froze, repeating something from Kayli’s sentence earlier.

A name that may ring a bell in Derora's head.

“...Malakai?”

Year 3005:

Derora saw the royal residence of Raiona. She was seated on her father's lap playing with her dolls. 

While she was playing, Derora's father Darius began to talk to Demi.

"When was the last time we entered Raiona again?" he questioned.

Derora's mother replied, "About a few years now since our little girl was an infant and couldn't pick up a doll to play"

Darius looked at his daughter who was still playing with her dolls until the car halted where Derora dropped one of her dolls. 

“Urgh, Derora. How many dolls do you need for a short trip like this?” scolded Demi.

“Relax, Demi,” assured Darius as he picked up the doll from the ground. “Derora can bring as many dolls as she likes, as long as it doesn’t exceed the baggage weight.”

Demi rolled her eyes, “You’re always spoiling her, Darius. Yesterday, you bought another doll for her.”

“That’s because it was a replacement for the one which was burned in the fireplace...”

The doors opened as the royals entered out of the vehicle, only to be greeted by a family of 5, the parents and three boys. 

“Welcome back to Raiona, Darius!” shouted a man in his 30s, dark brown hair and emerald eyes clad in a grey suit completed with a gold and green sash around him. “My god, it felt like a decade!”

Derora looked around while her parents were talking to their counterparts. She noticed a familiar face and ran towards a familiar face.

“Hello again!”

The boy turned to see her and doesn’t seem to recall. “Yes, little girl?”

Derora was surprised to hear how the boy addressed him, “Do you remember me?”

“No, why should I? You don’t sound like a big of a deal, even if you’re King Darius’ daughter.”

Derora reminded him, “We used to play together before I grew a little bigger.”

“I doubt we met.”

Derora was a little confused, “Huh? I am sure we played before.”

“You’re mistaken. You probably got the wrong person unless...”

A voice interrupted him, “Mavriki?”

Mavriki jerked up while Derora looked up to the owner of the voice, another young boy whom she was confused by. He has identical features like Mavriki and wears the same outfit except he was wearing a gold sash. 

“Oh, Malakai!”

Malakai ignored Mavriki’s presence and glanced at Derora. “You have grown for a bit.”  
Derora peered at what he was hiding behind his back, before a prince doll was presented before her. “I thought you might need to add a prince in your toy collection.”

Derora raised a smile and hugged Malakai. 

Mavriki gave a scoff, “Urgh, you two.”

\--

Present Day 

Both Kayli and Mavriki continued to argue as Derora slowly got herself back to reality. She then slowly approached Mavriki where he attempted to end the argument. 

"You really need to leave, Lady Esperanza. I am having a headache from all of this and Derora is tired of your antics too.”

As Mavriki turned to Derora, he was surprised with a slap on the face, not by Kayli but Derora.

Mavriki immediately covered his left cheek which was glowing in crimson red. 

"You’re not him.” snarled Derora

"What did you say?" said Mavriki.

“Tell the truth, you skank!” taunted Kayli. “Your web of lies is over!”

Mavriki slid his hand off his cheek and lifted a smirk. “Alright, I will reveal the truth.”  
He then spilled the beans about the truth, “I am not who I claimed to be.”

Derora froze and pointed her finger at him, shaking. “How… even? No...”

“Well, looks are deceiving. I believe neither Maurien nor I have told you this but… Malakai and I are twins and the person you were actually close to… is the dead rat of a twin.”

Derora’s eyes turned to Mavriki as she demanded, “Why...?”

" 'Why', you asked? Because you played a role and that is clearing up most of the misdeeds against me, as you are so naive and only care about finding your memories. I have to thank you for that."

With an evil cackle, he cried out, “With Malakai dead, forget about finding your past self. You will never find out about your past ever again!”

Hearing that caused Derora to be hit hard with the truth. 

"You’re the perfect tool I can use if anyone ever comes against me.”

At that point, Derora felt betrayed. "You...used me?"

Mavriki gave a sly smile as he confessed. "Yes, dear and you did a good part, I praise you for that."

Derora froze and crumbled to the floor the moment her knees touched the elaborate carpet, with tears flowing from her eyes. Derora began to mumble words that were inaudible.

"Go ahead, cry! No one will comfort you over spilled milk," said Mavriki. 

Kayli became mad that Mavriki unveiled the shocking truth and comforted Derora who was about to cry.

"You sick bastard! How dare you use Derora in a way using your playful deceit and lies to her!!"

Mavriki laughed, "That's the only way. And I also like to thank you, Kayli for playing along with my little game!"

Kayli stared at Mavriki in shock as he continued,

“I wish I could forgive you for what you did in the past, but that little forgiveness I gave you was a little publicity stunt so that I can shift my focus directly on Derora."

"WHY YOU LITTLE PIECE OF ROYAL TWAT SHIT!" screamed Kayli, who was so near to the brink of frustration that she nearly got up to give Mavriki a beating. 

“No wonder everyone hates you!"

Mavriki laughed at Kayli as if she was a joke. "Why don't you tell Derora how much hatred you had about her back then?"

Derora’s attention shifted towards Kayli who stood there silent, lowering her hand. Kayli did not expect Mavriki to say that.

To make things worse, Mavriki dug out further details about Kayli’s past by whipping out the same emerald book, reading a few sentences.

“Kayli is a threat towards Derora as she has committed multiple heinous crimes. From berating her royal status to threatening to destroy Derora’s doll collection, claiming that dolls are ‘old fashioned’ and ‘outdated’ and that Derora is old enough to play with toys ‘of her age’.“

Mavriki then ended with a sentence, “Quoted by Malakai Raiona.”

Derora turned to Kayli, unable to process what she just heard. “Is this true, Kayli?”

Kayli couldn’t help but nod, “I didn't want to tell you in case you remembered something."

Derora remained shocked as she heard the harsh truth from Mavriki and how Kayli had been hiding secrets from her the entire time..

“Why didn’t you tell me! It would have been the essential part of finding out who I really am before!” screamed Derora. 

If Kayli had told Derora earlier before, Derora may not have been caught in Mavriki’s clutches of deceit. 

Mavriki took a few steps towards Derora, forcing her to look at him by lifting her chin. 

“Listen clearly, Princess. You better play along with my plans now. Play along and you'll be rewarded."

Derora stood still, unable to say a word to fight Mavriki back. Hearing her not say anything gave Mavriki the opportunity to mock Derora. 

“You wouldn’t dare to talk back. Pathetic.”

He crackled an evil laugh. “Well then, Derora. Keep that mouth tightly shut as how silent you are now. I think it would be best if I have sewn your mouth shut with some thread.”

Just then, Kayli's voice charged in. “I don’t think so!”

Mavriki turned around to see Kayli punching Mavriki in the face, knocking him unconscious. 

“No questions! Just run!” instructed Kayli, grabbing Derora's hand.

Both girls left the room. As they ran down the hallway, both of them heard Mavriki shrieking down the hallway as he regained consciousness, 

"Make sure Mikaere's pet doesn't take my Derora away from the royal grounds!!"

They were halfway towards the exit until they halted upon seeing Maurien who was wondering what was all the ruckus about. "Kayli? What are you doing here?"

Kayli had no time to explain, "Cover us and pretend nothing happened, okay?"

Maurien felt something was wrong. As Kayli and Derora were about to continue to make their move, Maurien stopped them. "Wait, Kayli. What's wrong? Why are you and Derora in a rush to leave?"

Kayli couldn't explain the situation as at the same time, it might hurt Maurien if she told him Mavriki's true intentions to use Derora. Instead, she said, "Look, Derora and I have to go now. I'll..."

In the midst of explaining, there were shouts of the royal guards. 

"Search for Lady Kayli and Princess Derora before Kayli could run off and..."

Just then, Maurien did the unexpected. "Guards!”

Hearing that made Kayli outraged, "What the heck, Maurien?"

Unaware of what was happening, Maurien demanded an explanation. "Kayli, what in Raiona's name is going on? At least the guards can explain and from there I can..."

Kayli was angered at Maurien's action that she decided not to explain and pushed Maurien aside. "Thanks for throwing away our 20 year friendship away to save your princely title!"

Maurien felt it was a huge misunderstanding. "WAIT, KAYLI! DERORA!"

He ran towards the two women but couldn't catch up. The guards soon saw Maurien and asked. "Your highness, where is Lady Kayli and Princess Derora?"

Maurien pointed at them the direction. Before they could go, Maurien asked the guards.

"Why do you need Kayli and Derora urgently?"

One of the guards explained, "Princess Derora has been kidnapped."

"What?!" shouted Maurien. "Kayli would never do anything like that! There's a big misunderstanding and..."

Just then, Darshani came over along with a few more guards, looking for Kayli and Derora as well. "Prince Maurien?"

"Darshani, please tell them it's a big misunderstanding! Kayli would never do such a thing and..."

Darshani informed Maurien, "I am afraid it is true, your highness, that Kaylista Esperanza have intentions of her own to take the Princess away…"

"No, that's not true!" shouted Maurien, " I just met Kayli just now and Derora isn't harmed unless she's tied in duct tape!"

Meanwhile, Kayli and Derora had reached the entrance of the gateway where both of them got into Kayli's car which was parked outside.

Kayli started to drive at high speed. Just then as she drove out of the castle gates and into the Ricca city state, Kayli saw a few vehicles that followed her through her driving mirror. 

"Great, the Royal police are after me too!" said Kayli.

Derora looked behind her from the window. She saw a lot of cars chasing after them to prevent them from leaving. 

Kayli increases the speed of her car but not towards the highest speed. 

Kayli then heard one of the guards calling for Kayli to stop the car. "Kaylista Esperanza! If you don't surrender immediately, we will not hesitate to stop you until you decide to surrender!"

Kayli didn't respond and decided to do something drastic.

"Alright Derora, buckle your seatbelts because this is going to be a bumpy ride!"

Derora followed Kayli's instructions without question. From there, Kayli sped through the streets of Mezzo and Ricca.

Maurien ran down the balcony upon hearing the police sirens alarming the whole of the capital of Raiona. He was stunned at what happened that the only way he could find out is from Mavriki himself.

\--

Maurien entered Mavriki's study room where Darshani was standing next to Mavriki, who had an ice bag pressed on his bruised cheek.

"Brother, is everything alright?" he asked

Mavriki looked at Maurien, with his eyes red and mascara running down from his eyes. "I can't believe it's ruined thanks to that Esperanza bitch!"

Maurien calmed his brother down. While at it, he asked him what had happened between him and Kayli. 

"Brother, I didn't get the gist of what happened earlier. May I ask, what happened between you and Kayli?"

Mavriki blew his nose and explained it to him, looking at Maurien as he calmed down. "I wanted to propose to Derora only for Kayli to spread multiple lies about me...”

Maurien was surprised to hear that Mavriki was going to propose to Derora. "Did Derora say yes or no?"

"Neither," replied Mavriki as he got up to compose himself. "Kayli just popped in and took Derora away."

Mavriki didn't explain fully what had happened that Maurien prompted him. "What lies did Kayli claim?"

A question about what Kayli did led Mavriki to believe that Maurien was asking for the sole purpose to defend her. 

"DO NOT QUESTION ME IF YOU WISH TO DEFEND THAT ESPERANZA MINX!!"

Maurien took a step back. " What did Kayli do?"

Mavriki sighed, not wanting to answer his brother's question. "Sigh, Kayli said a lot of things that led Derora to believe that I am the bad guy. I mean, did I do ANYTHING bad to Derora in the first place?"

Maurien shook his head, unaware about his brother's scheme. "No but why would Kayli come up with..."

Darshani prevented Maurien from further discussion, "I suggest to not discuss this further. Once we get the Princess and Kayli back, we will press charges on the latter."

Maurien was shocked the moment he heard that there would be charges made against Kayli for committing a crime that she did not commit.

"Press charges?! What are you accusing Kayli of? Kidnapping Derora?"

Mavriki slammed the table and said, "Exactly! She kidnapped her out of her accord and wanted me to stay the little miserable prince as I was so yes, I plan to get Kayli arrested!"

"Brother you can't do this!", protested Maurien. 

He then came up with a suggestion, " Let's not take things to the extreme and just find Kayli and Derora and settle It privately..."

Mavriki rephrased a section of what Maurien had said, "'Settle it privately'? No, no, no, Maurien… A matter like this… should be addressed publically!"

Maurien felt Mavriki was too much, "Brother, you're being ridiculous!"

Mavriki felt he was right, "If we settle it privately, it might as well happen again and again, but a matter like this in regards to my poor princess Derora being kidnapped in the hands of a low class sow, needs to be addressed!"

He then ordered Darshani, "Call the news reporters and make this a public statement!”

Mavriki then came up with an idea for a headline, 'Kaylista Esperanza has kidnapped Princess Derora out of her own accord’ and she will pay for her crimes!"

Maurien had no choice but to see his brother make such a ridiculous action in calling Kayli out as well as her arrest, despite his protests to not do it. Maurien only can hope that an intervention will appear to end this petty conflict. 

\--  
On the road outside Raiona, Kayli was taking her own sweet time to drive with the uncertainty on where to go next.

Derora was in deep thought and was sulking, wondering what was going to happen next, now that the person who knew more of Derora's past life was gone from this world.

Kayli noticed Derora's demeanor via the mirror extension of her car, prompting Kayli to ask if she was upset.

Derora's eyes lowered to her lap as she removed any incoming tears from her eyes. 

"It's just… the chance of getting my memories retraced are gone," said Derora. “And also the fact that the person I was looking for turned out to be Mavriki’s dead twin brother all this while.”

Kayli sighed, having to hear that Derora was disappointed.

Derora began to condemn her as she talked to herself. "I am such a fool… I was eager to find out more of my past life that I took a risk to run away and ended up here, only for things to end not the way I wanted… Why? Why? Why, Derora?"

Derora continued, "Why am I here?! Oh god, if I knew already, I would have stayed! Stayed at this god forsaken foster care and I would have awaited a new family to take me in!"

Kayli suddenly hit the breaks and at a split second, slapped Derora.

"Woman!" shouted Kayli angrily. "You brought yourself into this!"

Derora looked at Kayli where she sounded very pissed and started a lecture.

"For Raiona's sake, Derora! You chose to leave your damn foster care to find out! You chose to enter Raiona in hopes to find answers of your lost past! You chose to re-enter royal grounds! Everything that happened was because of YOUR GODDAMN CHOICE!"

Derora stood quiet, looking down and now that she thought of it, everything that Kayli listed was what Derora had chosen for the sake of her amnesia. She covered her face as she started to cry.

Kayli tried not to groan but instead, gave a deep sigh as she calmed herself down. "Derora, listen. It can't be helped. Whatever you had done, it can't happen the way you wanted. Not everything is rainbows and unicorns!"

Kayli felt the need to apologize. “I apologise, Derora... for snapping at you just now… and for everything I did in the past.”

Derora sniffled, “W-What?”

“I gave you a hard time back then, berating you and saying your dolls were trash and stuff. Also for being a mean girl and saying ‘You can’t sit with us.’ all the time. Now that I look back after you made your unexpected return, I feel horrible. and with the fact that you revealed yourself to be amensic, I didn’t bring it up and played along.”

Derora immediately traced back to the recent flashbacks she had and remembered what she was talking about, “Oh...”

Just then, Derora felt an embrace from Kayli. “I am sorry, Derora. I was such a bitch back then...”

Though Derora has fragments of past memories of Kayli hurting her, she decided to put it all behind. “Hey, it’s alright.”

Kayli looked at Derora. “Really? I am forgiven?”

“Yes, why should I be still angry at you?”

Kayli felt a burden was lifted off her chest. “For the first time ever, I have been forgiven by a royal.”

Just then, her phone beeps continuously. “What the devil is it now?”

She looked at her notifications and scoffed upon seeing the headlines in bold. 

“Kaylista Esperenza Accused of Kidnapping Last Living Celine Royal”  
“Prince Mavriki Orders Esperanza's Arrest for Kidnapping Princess Derora”

She commented, "Oh, that little royal twat got the audacity to put me on the wrong page!"

Kayli showed the news on her phone to Derora, who slowly scrolled through the posts.

"Introducing to you fake news, where everyone in Raiona now knows what the heck I did but in the wrong light! So now it’s not safe to return to Raiona now that I am marked as a criminal. Thanks Mavee.”

Derora looked lost as she saw the news, "But I wasn't kidnapped..."

"Thanks for stating the obvious but it's considered a kidnapping when a royal gets taken away..."

Kayli then pointed at herself before completing her sentence where she mocked herself, "By anyone not of royal blood like this 'adopted pet'."

Kayli saw a video pop up in her newsfeed, prompting her to play the video.

“Coming fresh from the oven! You may have known of Princess Derora’s unexpected return to the late kingdom of Celine this week, but we’ve just received news from the Royal House of Raiona that she’s disappeared again! We’ve also just got news that Kaylista Esperanza, the adopted daughter of Royal Advisor Mikarere Democritus has been accused of kidnapping the princess by His Majesty Prince Mavriki! We received claims from him that the accused kidnapped Derora out of spite.”

“And that’s not all! The Prince has issued an arrest warrant against Kaylista Esperanza, as well as a reward for anyone who can find the accused and the princess, both alive. Story is currently in development."

Hearing that caused Kayli's blood to boil, "Wow, even Mavee had the balls to bother to ask the news station to spread his bullshit. The grudge between me and him has been ignited… again."

"Are royals always like this?" asked Derora, now having an impression that the royals can easily get away in order to not damage their reputation.

"Not all royals but for the Raiona family, yes”

She then elaborated, ”Ever since Malakai's disappearance, the Raiona family had always tried to get away by claiming whatever any third party says are lies. Since they are also one of the richest royal families, they would bribe the reporters as well.”

Kayli sighed as she continued, "And that explains why most of the rumored scandals that Mavee had committed were not reported, which means they could be true."

Suddenly, Kayli’s phone began to buzz again. She sighed and pressed a button to answer it and out of Kayli's surprise, the screen located in the centre of the cockpit of the car automatically went on video call mode, revealing the face of Kayli's father Mikaere Democritus.

He then started off with a concerned voice, "Kaylista!" Seeing his face at that moment made Kayli freeze.

"What am I hearing from the news from Raiona! Why did you kidnap the princess out of your own accord?! Do you know that you are putting me at great risk to have my family ties removed by the Raionas?!"

Kayli groaned again and facepalmed. "Sigh, you really want to know, don't you?"

Derora peered through the screen, seeing an unfamiliar face that she has not met before. "Who are you?"

Mikaere became shocked upon seeing Derora, “Your Majesty...! How are you unharmed at this point of time...?”

“Kayli didn’t harm me.” 

Hearing that made Mikaere surprised and confused at the same time. "What?... Save you? Now that you mentioned it, you aren’t tied up or have duct tape over your face..."

Mikaere then realized he was rude for not introducing himself yet. "Pardon my manners, your Highness. I believe we haven't met in person after a decade. I am King Alekai’s Royal Advisor..."

Derora made a guess. "Mikaere Democritus?"

Mikaere was taken by surprise upon hearing his name said by Derora's mouth. "Princess, you know of me?"

Derora nodded, "Yes. In fact, Kayli told me about you."

"Hah, she did?" said Mikaere, who gave a smile. "Usually, Kaylista wouldn't bother introducing me as her parent to her friends but to a person like you, that could be an exception since you're a royal."

He then pointed out, “Princess, you look like Kayli had saved your life over something back there. I would need an explanation on that.”

Kayli gestured to Derora, “Tell him. I think it's best to tell him. Also, it's best told from your perspective."

Derora hesitated at first but ended up telling Mikaere the whole story from her point of view.. Hearing what Derora said had Mikaere unsurprised.

"By the Devil, I somehow knew this coming. I would have advised you if King Zauril didn’t inform me to come to Adhaya one week early. Mavriki is up to no good as always… even after gaining his right as heir from Malakai, he still wants to take advantage of his dead twin.”

Kayli asked a question, “Urh, why did the King summon you one week early?”

“Ah, I had a personal tea time with him. Somehow because of that, I was indirectly invited to Princess Gladis’ 16th birthday party.”

Mikaere realised he was distracted and continued to talk to Derora, "And with the fact that you have amnesia, he managed to quickly cook up his grand scheme to do whatever it takes to be close to rule Raiona.”

Derora nodded alongside feeling the pain of betrayal and deceit.

"You would have been brainwashed by Mavriki himself if Kayli hadn’t saved you earlier, so I will give her praise for that.”

"Indeed," replied Derora. "My answers to my missing past are more or less answered now, that I know that I learned that I am the last living member of the Royal House of Celice. Still, I would like to hear a complete set of answers of my past laid out for me if Malakai was alive."

The moment Mikaere heard his former superior's name, Mikaere couldn't help but mention this.

"If only he were alive, Raiona would have been in a better shape then now..."

Derora could only think of this on why Mikaere mentioned that. "If Malakai were alive then things would have… better?"

Mikaere nodded. "Yes, many people believe that there is more investigation to be done but the Raionas chose not to continue the search, I myself believe that the investigation should go on.”

Derora came up with a question about Malakai. "Sir Democritus, I do have a question pertaining to Malakai."

"Yes, what about him?" 

The question Derora was about to say made her don't want to say it but decided to give it a shot.

"How were Malakai and I... close?"

Mikaere seems to know this question well. "Ah, that is very easy to answer as Malakai is actually my godson."

Derora was puzzled, "Godson?"

Mikaere explained. "Princess, as I am the royal advisor and because I witnessed my superior's sons births, my superior appointed me to be the godfather of Malakai, Maurien and sadly, Mavriki.”

He then answered Derora’s question, "19 years ago when you were first brought into this world, Malakai was one of the first few royals to see you in your infant stage and having to see a female baby for the first time, he was fond of you ever since."

Kayli intervened, “What about Mavee?”

“He knew about Derora but chose not to develop the friendship with her back then.” replied Mikaere.

Mikaere then pointed out something that would surprise Kayli. “You were also present at the time, Kaylista but not in a good way.”

“Yeah, talk about it. Malakai is such a bull when it comes to protecting Derora and refrained her from interacting with me.” 

Mikaere replied, “Well, that’s because royals like Malakai and Derora’s late father were precautious about who Derora should interact with.”

Kayli flared her nostrils. "He took away my opportunity to be friends with Derora. How I wish I could punch him."

Mikaere raised both his brows, once again hearing his daughter's rudeness. "That's disrespectful of you, Kaylista.”

Mikaere then changed the subject, now concerned about the outcome. "Now that you are considered a fugitive in Raiona, this may mean that Mavriki may notify the remaining kingdoms to keep a lookout for you should you enter any kingdom grounds.”

He then made a quick suggestion, “It is best right now to speed up to Adhaya immediately before King Zauril gets the notif----"

All of a sudden, the car jerked out of nowhere.

"What the--!" shouted Kayli.

Kayli tried to get control on the steering wheel but it was too late. The car landed down away from the road, going down through a steep hill. Kayli held tightly to the wheels and did her best to stop the vehicle but to no avail.

The car soon crashed at a nearby forest, little did the two ladies know that an adventure would await them.

-End of Chapter 6 Part 1


	9. Chapter 6 Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now off the radar, Derora and Kayli stumbled upon uncharted territory with the help of a new friend. Meanwhile, Mavriki made preparations to hunt the girls down.

Derora slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the deep blue sky. 

“I… I am alive?” thought Derora. 

It took a second for her to quickly get up, realising that she isn’t in the car where she last remembered that the car fell off the side of the road. Instead, she was lying down on the ground. She noticed Kayli next to her, apparently unconscious.

In front of her was a campfire, keeping both Derora and Kayli warm for the chilly night.

An unfamiliar voice jumped in, “Looks like one of you ladies is awake.”

Derora moved her head from left to right to find where the voice was coming from.

But as she turned around, she was startled by a person right behind her, squatting down to face her. She analysed the person’s appearance. 

An average sized male, clad in mostly blue with blonde hair with a unique blue tinge of dye on his side bangs, was eyeing Derora.

Derora had the thought of running away but the boy’s words stopped her from trying to escape, starting off with a greeting.

“Ello mate!” 

It sounded friendly that made Derora want to stay on. Who is this person?

“You must be wondering how the hell you ended up in here instead of that beat up car of yours. Well, that’s because I saved both ya asses before that thing self destructed on its own.”

Derora got lost on what he had just said.

The boy sighed, “Oh well, I guess that was long winded as heck but hey!”

He lifted up his hand for a friendly handshake. “How about a little introduction? My name is Kyale, what's yours?”

Derora simply replied as she responded to Kyale’s handshake, “Derora.”

Kyale then titled his head towards Kayli who was still unconscious. “And ya bestie?”

“She’s Kayli.” 

Kyale nodded his head and got up. “Derora and Kayli… you guys from where?”

“Raiona.” 

Just then, Kayli woke up and shot up panicking "How the hell did we get ourselves here… wait, where's the car?!"

Kayli turned to see Derora as well as Kyale whom Kayli was unfamiliar with. “And who the hell are you?!” 

Kyale shrugged, “Duh, your saviour.”

“He saved us,” explained Derora. 

Kayli was confused, “How so?” 

Kyale explained in detail, “You ladies were hit unconscious and I was minding my own business til I saw you guys, and right after I pulled ya up from there, the car self destructed on its own.”

Hearing the words shocked Kayli, “The car WHAT?”

“If it wasn’t for Kyale, we would have been burned to a crisp,” said Derora.

Kayli sighed, “Well, I didn’t know my car came with THAT feature.”

Kyale changed the topic, “Anywho, now that you ladies seem to be lost and car-busted, are you in need of some accomodation?”

Kayli rejected at first, “I am sorry, accommodation? I don’t think so. Me and my girl will sort our own accommodations ourselves!”

Kyale cleared his throat, “I am afraid finding your own accomodation is impossible unless you move into my accommodation, since we are nowhere near any of the 5 Kingdoms!”

"It's 4 now since Celine has been destroyed," corrected Derora.

Kyale appeared to look like it's his first time hearing that the number of kingdoms. "Wait what? Whatever happened to Celine?"

Derora responded, "It was… perished in a fire."

Kyale scratched his head, "Well, darn. That’s what you get for being out of the Kingdoms’ radar.”

Kayli then cut straight to the point, “So where EXACTLY is this so-called ‘accommodation’ of yours?”

Where was Kyale staying at, if he wasn’t staying at a kingdom? “Ever heard of this place called Rogues Zone?” asked Kyale, folding his arms. “Doubt you guys know it because it's a myth.”

Kayli immediately cut Kyale off, “Wait, it's real?”

“Of course it’s real!” exclaimed Kyale who leaped his hands up the air. “Finally, someone with some damn good knowledge on this one!”

Kayli scoffed, “My dad said that, not me. Though it’s not proven that it is real.”

“Well it is, so do you wanna come or not?” 

Feeling that the decision shouldn’t be immediate, Kayli needed some time to sink in and took Derora aside, "Girl huddle."

Kayli and Derora moved away from Kyale from a far distance, ensuring that Kyale couldn't hear a thing by just five feet apart.

Derora quickly shared her thoughts, "I have doubts. What if Kyale is a scammer?”

"My thoughts exactly. I mean, he could have heard about it and made it up that the Rogues Zone is real,” replied Kayli, side eying to Kyale who was whistling away. 

Derora was on a fifty-fifty, one side thinking what Kyale said was true and the other side thinking it may be a part of Kyale’s ‘scam’.

“It’s unlikely the Rogues Zone is real,” Kayli doubted. “What’s worse is that he may take us to a prosctiutation den...”

Their discussion was soon busted when Kyale shouted, "You do know I can hear you, right?!"

Kayli groaned, pissed to hear that Kyale could hear them even from miles away. "Well damn, I never knew you have super hearing!"

Kyale then picked up where the two ladies left off and debunked what Kayli had said earlier. "And for the record, I would never ever groom you as a sex slave.”

That cleared away doubts from Kayli and Derora’s minds. 

He then gestured to the ladies to follow him, "If you wanna come along, sure! I ain’t forcing ya’ll!”

With no further discussion, Kayli and Derora made their decision and followed Kyale along, who smirked seeing that the girls were following along. 

"Well then, ladies. You are about to experience an adventure of a lifetime!"

Derora raised a question, "Excuse me, Mr. Kyale. How long is it going to take from walking?"

Kyale let out a chuckle at how Derora addressed him, "You can just call me Kyale. Don't be too formal!!"

He then answered her question, "We won't be walking for long because if we are, then we would have been dead by now, cause of death is non stop walking"

Kayli then pointed out, "So there's what? A hidden commute that would take us there?"

"No, there's no such thing as public transport here aside from stolen vehicles," replied Kyale

"Wait what? You steal vehicles?"

"You name it! We love stealing stuff that is worth loads. As a scavenger, my job is to find rundown goods and make them new again.”

Derora moved towards Kayli and asked her, "What's a jeep?"

Knowing Derora wasn’t too familiar with the types of vehicles apart from those of royalty back in Raiona, Kayli explained, "It's like a car except more fitted for adventurers and travellers."

"Hey," said Kyale, who heard Kayli. "I ain't a safari freak, let alone have interacted with animals let alone hamsters"

"What do hamsters have to do with the safari?" asked Derora.

Kyale changed the topic as his eyes caught something that was camouflaged among the dark green cedar trees.

Pointing excitedly, he exclaimed, "There's our ride!"

Kayli and Derora couldn't see a thing at first, but when Kyale swiped up something from his pockets, there were flashing lights that belonged to a vehicle or in this case, Kyale's jeep.

Kyale then opened the jeep car door for the girls to get in. "After you ladies."

"Thanks, lad," said Kayli, who smiled at Kyale.

After Kayli got in, Derora gotin as well. Kayli then whispered to Derora as Kyale was packing up.

"While we are there, let's not reveal too much about yourselves."

Derora was puzzled with Kayli's suggestion. "Why can't we?"

Kayli sighed. "Listen, you’re a princess and I’m a noblewoman so if we leak anything about ourselves, it will be game over unless we think of something!”

Derora interrupted and came up with a suggestion to add to the mix, "How about we can also say we're sisters?"

Kayli frowned, folding her arms as she didn't seem to agree about Derora's suggestion. "We don't look biological, sis."

A lightbulb was lit in Kayli's mind that she came up with an idea. "Let's say that we are the upper middle class kids of Raiona that we decided to go for a rowdy road trip and ended up here"

Derora stated the obvious. "But we are not upper middle class people"

Kayli rolled her eyes. "No shit, Derora but play along, will ya?"

"Okay," agreed Derora.

By the time they ended the conversation, Kyale went to the driver's seat, removed his chest bag and placed it next to him.

"Getting to the Rogues' Zone would take a while," said Kyale. "Through the woods of course"

"How long would it take?" asked Derora.

"Eh, not long."

Kyale started the engine and drove off the forest

"This is going to be a bumpy ride," said Kyale.

Kyale drove through the bushes that blocked Kyale's sight.

"So how do people not find this place easily?" asked Kayli. "I mean in Raiona, we deem it as a myth."

"Eh, ask God. He made this place."

Kyale gave a light sigh but was willing to explain further, "My brother and I stumbled upon here, about 20 years ago. We had some rough times back then that I do not want to say it. A little too personal to share with newcomers like you."

“You have a brother?” asked Derora

“Yeah, he’s a tad older than me,” replied Kyale. “We stick by each other over these times that it so happened we chanced upon the Rogues’ Zone.”

Kyale then started his engine of the jeep and drove. 

The car ride was a long and draggy one. Minute by minute, Kayli’s eyes started drooping. Exhausted beyond measure, she succumbed to fatigue and fell asleep on  
Derora's shoulder. Derora, while also fatigued, peered through the window and got a final glimpse of the forest side that they were in earlier, before driving away from that area. 

Year 3008

A private car was driving towards Oro Shores in Raiona. Derora was seated near the window with her parents by her side.

"The beach side looks very pleasant!" exclaimed Derora's father. "I can't believe Alekai owns such a more exquisite beach side than the ones we saw in the other parts of Raiona!”

Derora's mother scoffed at her husband's remarks. "Well, our beaches are man-made, not as natural as the beaches here."

Derora's sapphire blue eyes were on the clear ocean and on the sandy beach sides as well. She got up while her small hands pressed on a button where the window screen rolled down, giving Derora a fresh sea breeze as she leaned towards the window.

"Derora is having a fun time, isn't she?" said Derora's father who was grinning, seeing his daughter enjoying the breeze and because of that, he scooted over to Derora's side to have a taste of it too.

"Let daddy feel the breeze too!"

He commented, "I wish Alekai could give us a lovely beach like this, like importing this beach.”

The car then stopped at the private summer house where King Alekai and his family, alongside Mikaere and Kayli were waiting for their arrival.

Derora's father got out of the car first to tell Alekai his opinion about the beachside. "Well, Alekai. I think I'll have this pleasant beach of yours imported to my home kingdom after this royal summer vacation is over"

As both kings talked, Derora looked at the private summer house as it was probably her first time seeing a house situated near the beach.

Just then the summer house door opened, revealing Malakai who went out to greet Derora. Alongside himself were Maurien and Kayli who went to take a look who Malakai had greeted at the door. 

“Rora! I am so glad that you came!”

Before Derora could reply, her ears caught hold of the sound of seagulls surrounding the aerial side of the beach. By the time she looked up, she got immediately scared...

"Don't worry, the seagulls are not going to bite," assured Malakai.

However, Kayli showed no sympathy, "But they will shit on you!"

Derora turned around, only to see Kayli giving out a laugh about what she had just said just now. However, Mikaere overheard and lectured Kayli. 

"Kaylista, no use of vulgarities especially in front of the royal guests."

Mikaere then brushed off the rudeness, “Now where were we?”

Kayli scoffed, “I mean it would be funnier if there’s bird poop that lands on Derora’s face. Ever heard of a poop facial?”

Mikaere had enough, “That’s enough, Kaylista. One more hurtful word about the princess and we’re leaving the vicinity with you being grounded for the rest of the school holidays are over.”

Hearing that made Kayli stopped and gave a ‘hmph’ to Derora.

Mikaere then greeted the princess, “Princess Derora, I’m sorry for Kaylista’s antics but at least you got the princes to play with.”

Derora nodded shyly to acknowledge the tall royal official. A summer vacation was something Derora had not experienced before but it sounded like a huge adventure laid out for her, even outside the royal grounds.

\--

Present Time:

"Here we are!"

At that exact moment, Kayli had a rude awakening when Kyale's voice pierced through.

Derora immediately took a glance outside the window of the jeep, seeing another new world in her eyes.

Kayli also took a glance and said, "This isn't exactly what I envisioned."

Unlike the fancy surroundings she had seen for the last few months, she saw a stark contrast.

Outside the driving jeep is a settlement that exhibits a warm welcome where the setting is a booming marketplace. 

"This should be an official 6th Kingdom," commented Kayli who was amazed to see many stalls and people with a smile on their faces. 

"I know right!" agreed Kyale. "But we like to remain hidden at a moment like a secret paradise, ya know?"

Derora heard all sorts of foreign languages around her when she peered out her window, which led her to believe that the Rogues’ Zone is a melting hotpot of different races of the 5 Kingdoms. Kayli asked Kyale where he was taking both the ladies.

Kyale replied, "To kickstart Day 0 of your tour here. Since we met impromptu and that you ladies have no idea what to do here, allow me to take you for refreshments. All on me."

"I sure love freebies, especially a free meal," gushed Kayli.

Kyale stopped over at a makeshift restaurant where he parked his jeep and got off the vehicle. Before he could go over to mark his presence to the server, his eyes caught on a familiar face whom he did not expect them coming. 

\--

Meanwhile in Raiona, Mavriki called for a meeting in his office, calling in the presence of the royal guards as well as the presence of Darshani and Maurien to witness this.

He kickstarted the topic, "My fellow brethren, I have summoned you for a very important mission for you in regards to the kidnapping of Princess Derora."

He grabbed a small white remote and turned on the projector, showcasing a wanted poster with Kayli's mugshot (which was taken from her previous offense except she was bailed out) slapped in the middle with the following words.

From top it says, "WANTED!"

And from the bottom, "Must be found alive, 5,000,000 Million Raionai to anyone who finds Kaylista Esperanza and secure Princess Derora's safety."

The 5 million Raionai reward had everyone in the room talking, discussing what they plan to do with the money once they meet the conditions.

To make things more motivational, Mavriki added, "An additional 500,000 Raionai to those who are employees of the RHR!"

The royal guards’ ears perked. Chatters grew louder upon hearing the news. Mavriki was elated to see how committed they were to enforcing order and got up to finish off. "Time is of the essence! Now go and do whatever it takes to enforce the law!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Hearing the guards obeying to such an order made Maurien a little worried but at the same time, he believed that as soon as possible, Kayli and Derora will return.

Mavriki dismissed the guards by shooing them away and faced Darshani as he gave them a command. "Ensure that there isn't a traitor in the premises here because a tingle is telling me that one of them could be helping them, so please check."

Darshani nodded, taking up the task before he made his leave. Maurien is the only person left in Mavriki's office apart from just Mavriki himself.

Sensing Maurien's presence, Mavriki looked up to him. "Maurien. I know you're upset that your 'best friend' is embroiled into all this..."

"You should have at least settled the matter privately instead of calling her out publicly with just an arrest warrant with a huge reward and a heavier sentence."

Mavriki got up from his chair and took one glance at his little brother. "Maurien, this is under my control and that you should just stay out of it.”

"Brother, that is not the point! As what most say, there are two sides of the story so..."

"Enough!" screamed Mavriki as he banged his fist on his desk, prompting Maurien to stop speaking, "Everything was so perfect until that bitch came in and ruined everything!"

He then continued, "This is all her fault! I wish Mikaere didn't adopt a worthless peasant girl which I don't know why a highly intelligent royal official like him decided to do so!"

As Mavriki continued to rant, Maurien quietly left the room, ignoring his brother before he could explode once Maurien opened his mouth.

"There goes the peace being disrupted, again." thought Maurien. "But it was good while it lasted."

Maurien then said to himself, "I hope both Kayli and Derora come back soon safely."

-End of Chapter 6 Part 2


	10. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kayli and Derora discover a brand new settlement where they kick off with some drinks with Kyale and his brother Roimatt.

A few tables away at the probably the best indoor seating was a rowdy looking herculean man. Striking a golden hairstyle and an undercut coupled with electric blue eyes, this man, who was clad in a leather jacket and a dog tag necklace, gave off an intimidating gangster vibe.

“Matt?"

Hearing his name being called, Matt caught Kyale in his sight. He eagerly got off the chair and greeted Kyale with a bro-fist.

"What is my little brother doing here?! I thought he was out scavenging junk outside!"

Kyale chuckled, brushing off Matt’s comments. "I didn't expect you to be here out of all places! I am treating my new friends with a meal!"

"New friends? Kyale, you’re such a social butterfly, but hey, the more the merrier!"

While the boys were talking, Kayli and Derora watched from the outside of the restaurant.

Kayli whispered to Derora's ear, commenting on Matt's physical build. 

"Wow, what a hunk."

Derora couldn't help but give a little flushed look, having not seen someone with that kind of physique before.

Matt caught sight of the girls that he came towards. "You brought new guests, little brother?”

“Of course, it’s always my kind of thing,” replied Kyale. 

Kyale went over to introduce his brother to Derora and Kayli, "Ladies, this is my big brother, Roimatt."

Kayli then shook hands with Roimatt, "Befitting for a bad boy. The name is Kayli.”

Roimatt found the handshake a bit too formal, "My, I ain't a profitable business man so I am not a fan of handshakes."

He then turned to Derora who was shy to look at him at first. "Who is this pretty damsel friend of yours?"

Kayli replied, “She’s Derora, she’s kinda shy.”

Roimatt's eyes were checking Derora head to toe, "You can call me Matt."

Roimatt escorted Kayli and Derora to sit down on the table where at the same time, the server brought them huge portions of food.

"Woah, Matt," gasped Kyale, shocked to see the food that Roimatt ordered such as a huge king salmon fish and a bunch of freshly barbecued chunks of steaks. "You were going to eat this by yourself?"

"I was going to have the whole meal by myself, but since we have lovely guests, I don't mind sharing. I don’t think I can finish this all by myself."

Looking at the remaining portions made Kayli and Derora really famished, considering that both ladies hadn't eaten anything ever since they left Raiona just a day ago.

Kayli's stomach growled as her appetite grew, "Oh my gosh, I am starving!"

Kayli sat down hastily while Derora took a seat next to Kayli, only to not expect Roimatt to sit next to Derora. Kayli couldn't help but take up as many servings as possible to fill her then empty stomach.

"I've never seen a woman eat so ravenously before," commented Roimatt.

While Kayli was gorging on the food, Derora took her time to eat followed by proper dining etiquette that Mavriki had taught her during her stay in Raiona.

As the two ladies settled in with their meals, Roimatt decided to shoot them with a flurry of questions. 

"So how do you ladies end up in our turf?"

Kyale answered for them, "They said they had a road trip gone wrong that they ended up at our turf. Their car is currently in terrible shape, so there’s no chance of riding back home, I guess."

Roimatt added in a question, curious about their backgrounds. "Where are you ladies from?"

"Raiona, but the suburban side, ever heard of Mezzo?"

For some reason, Roimatt's smile turned into a sulk, "Both of you?"

Kayli sensed something amiss. She asked Roimatt, “Why? You hate Raiona?”

Roimatt quickly shook his head in denial. With a half smile, he replied, “Eh, somewhat.”

“Basically, he had a bad experience with these kinds of people,” explained Kyale. 

Kayli disagreed, “Well, you just met friendly Raionians.” 

This made Roimatt grin, seeing he was probably in the wrong.

Roimatt changed the subject into a more exciting one, "Oh, since you ladies just randomly turn up like this, how about later, we can stop by an outdoor bar for some drinks. We can still drink after 10.30pm, right?”

Kyale nodded, “It ain’t a Kingdom, bro. We can do whatever we like here, no rules.”

“That’s my kind of shit I would like to hear!” shouted Kayli. 

Roimatt got up, “Alright, it’s on? It’s on!”

Kyale narrowed his eyebrows at his brother who looked confident and generous that he was paying in full instead of going dutch. "Where exactly are you going to get the cash to pay for it?"

Roimatt laughed it off and showed Kyale a piece of paper, in which Kyale snatched it to take a closer look. 

"No way!" shouted Kyale, with his eyes beaming with happiness. "You struck the jackpot!"

Roimatt began to flex his cash at his brother’s face. “And I feel my EX luck is coming back ever, better than being salty on one of those gacha rolls.”

"535 Neos, 750 Raionai, 500 Celin, 420 Adha, and 350 Hwans." tallied Kyale. "The market rate in Raiona is apparently thriving."

Kayli popped in a question, "Wait so you guys use all 5 currencies? How even, you guys didn't come up with your own currency?"

"Ma'am," said Kyale. "we do black market style to make a new lease of life here and of course, we need to have various currencies to buy the goods because we don’t have our damn currency to begin with.”

"And a translator," added Roimatt. "some buggers don't understand the good ol' common language. Those damn Suseonhwans."

Derora felt discrimination against the Suseonhwans from Roimatt's words.

"What did the Suseonhwans do to you?" asked Derora.

He clicked his tongue. "Ah missy, those dirty runts like to steal like the gypsies and they also bark if taunted. Not even simple common language is going to help, even though Suseonhwa is prospering thanks to Raiona’s king.”

“King Alekai?” asked Derora

"Yes yes or whatever his name is. If it weren’t for that King marrying a Suseonhwan woman, Suseonhwa wouldn't have been a kingdom in the first place.”

Roimatt felt the need to stop this history talk and changed the topic, “Hey since you ladies are new, how about we get some drinks!”

\--

The orange skies soon faded into the dark blue skies of night. It’s party time!

“THERE SHE IS!!” shouted Roimatt, pointing directly towards a location that looked like a makeshift outdoor night club, with loud booming hip hop music greeting the group. "Here's an all-in-one party, free of charge! Forget about getting a ticket in those music festival festivals. Admission is free!”

Kayli felt like she was in for the joy ride. "Way better than paying just 1,000 Raionai for a music festival ticket!"

Derora wasn't all too familiar as whatever she was seeing looked so new to her.  
Kayli assured Derora, “Don’t worry, babe. Everything will be fine.”

The doors were swung open for the group to enter, only to be greeted with not only loud booming music but with people dancing to the beat.

The loud noise somehow made Derora’s ears hurt so much that she cupped her ears. 

Roimatt escorted the girls to the bar counter of the night club where Kayli and Derora sat down on the counter chairs while he and Kyale leaned on the counter

“Pick your poison, ladies. It’s on me tonight.”

Kyale instantly knew what he wanted, “Get me a good ol' scotch whisky."

Kayli then stated what she want, “Blue Lagoona for me”

While Kayli and Kyale have already selected their drinks, Derora was unsure what to get, given that there isn’t any menu to guide her in what drinks they offer.

However, Roimatt happened to have a recommendation for Derora.

“Get the lady and I two shot glasses of gin. Also one tankard of beer.”

Derora whispered to Kayli, who was vacillated about the alcohol she was drinking. “What’s gin?”

Kayli explained in a nutshell, “Gin is alcohol. Alcohol spirit to be exact. It might taste a little too bitter to your liking so maybe I can suggest a little mixer, let's say soda and some gin."

Derora seemed to want to retract from drinking alcohol, but it was too late. The drinks had arrived, and Kayli and Kayle started downing their drinks.

Derora eyed the amber liquid and the golden glow of the glass-like cubes. With a sense of dread, Derora took a sip of the alcohol. She raised the glass to sip, feeling the keen burn on her tongue and throat. Shocked, she hastily put down the glass and nudged it away from her.

She noticed Roimatt finishing the whole glass in one shot. He then slammed the shot glass on the table and demanded for more shots. "There’s no kick in these shots! More, more!"

The corner of Roimatt's eye caught the sight of half finished gin on Derora’s side. “That’s not how you drink a shot!”

“How is it done then?” inquired Derora who was confused.

Roimatt stared at Derora with shock, “Wait… you don’t know how to drink a shot?”

Derora shook her head. In response, Roimatt lowered his head in disappointment and looked at her in disbelief, “Woman, are you this retarded?”

Derora felt she was getting a scolding for not knowing but it quickly died down as Roimatt smiled, giving another shot glass of gin to Derora. “Just gulp it in one blow”

She looked at it before she gulped the shot glass, finishing the contents in one sip.

Roimatt then passed another small glass to Derora, much to her shock.

“I thought we agreed on just a small amount?” Said Derora.

“THIS is a small amount but it gets bigger every shot, what are you talking about, woman!"

Derora felt pressured that she chose not to respond at first but uttered something from her mouth. “I can’t take much alcohol.”

Roimatt snorted, looking down at Derora for not being keen to drink with him that he began to berate her, “What are you? A child? Come on, Derora. It is completely harmless! Just a few more glasses.”

“I am sorry, I can’t. I don’t want to get drunk and...”

Kayli quickly jumped into Derora’s defense. “Hey hey! Derora can’t drink that much liquor. If you want, I can take over. I have a strong stomach for alcohol.”

“Low alcohol tolerance, I see,” said Roimatt. “Alright, lady. How many shots can you take?”

Kayli took it up a notch, “How about pints instead of shots?”

Kyale almost spat his drink out while Derora was bewildered by what Kayli had just said. 

Roimatt let loose an arrogant smile, hearing the confidence in Kayli's voice.

"Woman, I did not expect it coming," said Roimatt as he placed his shot glass down and took his tankard of beer. "Not limited to beer?"

"I take all types of alcohol. Gin, whisky, scotch, cognac, rum, you name it! How about I challenge you to a drinking contest?"

"Oof," said Kyale as he covered his mouth with his clenched fist while giving a surprised look on his face while Roimatt gaped at Kayli for a few moments before coming up with a response.

"Well, I love the confidence you are giving me, lass!" shouted Roimatt. He then shouted, "Bring out the drinks! A dozen of the best in this proud turf!"

"Bring it on!" shouted Kayli as she took Roimatt's tankard and gulped the alcohol before slamming it on the table.

Derora who looked seemingly concerned asked, "Kayli, are you sure this is a good idea? I am afraid you might get a little… drunk?"

"Girl, I'll be okay! This is probably my first drinking contest in a long while since the last time I did, I went clubbing with my friends and we took a hell load of glasses!”

“Are you sure?” continued Derora.

“Nothing new, Derora. I promise you, I will be fine. As long as it’s not you."

Hearing words of affirmation, Derora placed her trust in Kayli. She sighed as she watched Roimatt and Kayli drinking away countless shots of beer, while hearing loud cheers of support from Kyale, who was hoping for his brother to win. 

The drinks were all laid out on the counter, which attracted dozens of people to come in and see what was happening. They then began to chant and cheer for the two individuals. 

Roimatt blurted out the consequences for the loser should it be him or Kayli, "Loser pays for all the drinks!"

Kayli didn’t seem to care, knowing that she had strong guts to stomach all the alcohol.

The people roared in cheers, placing their bets on either Kayli and Roimatt to win the impromptu drinking contest. 

Amongst the enthusiastic crowd were a few bystanders sitting along the sidelines of the outdoor night club, watching the commotion a few feet away. One of the observing bystanders was a cold-looking, medium tanned woman with pale blond hair and a faux sidecut. 

"Roimatt and his halfling bringing in antics as always," said the woman. "I wonder what's the occasion."

She then took out a pair of binoculars from her leather satchel bag to have a closer look, observing Kayli and Derora. "Well, I see that he has brought in new travellers as always but they look rather… different from the previous ones.”

She was apparently talking to someone else, which means that she wasn’t alone. 

Behind her was a male silhouette covered in the shadows, holding on to a cigarette in which he exhaled out the smoke.

"Of course, it’s nothing new to us,” said the male figure. 

She looked at her male companion, "Dae Hyun, you should come and take a look. These females don't look like average travelers. Judging from the clothes, especially one of them, they look more like… noblewomen."

Dae Hyun got up and came out of the shadows, revealing himself as an averagely tall man dressed in black and a brown jacket with a hood covering his face, “Let me see."

He took the binoculars from Jourdunne's hands to take a look. He paused for a few moments where his eyes on the binoculars.

Dae Hyun shook his head and passed the binoculars back to Jourdunne, "Wait here."

He placed his cigarette on an ashtray before he went there to take a closer look. 

—

Kayli slammed down another empty tankard next to a bunch of other glasses, all clear of alcohol before nearly collapsing on the ground. 

"Kayli, that's enough!" warned Derora. "You’re hurting yourself!"

Kayli cut Derora's sentence in brash confidence, "Listen, hoe! I am fine. Let me be!!”

Roimatt looked down at Kayli, "Aww, little miss brash confidence is throwing in the towel already? The night is still young."

Hearing that made Kayli get in offense mode, she got up and banged her fist on the table, "I am not going to submit to your cock talk!"

Derora felt that her words weren't going to convince Kayli to stop so she stepped aside. 

Kyale stepped in to talk to her, "Hey, I know you're rooting for your girl buddy but face it, girls aren't going to win since they have small stomachs, unless she is a man."

Derora sighed, "Kayli, you can do it."

Everyone in the club continued to cheer for Roimatt and Kayli as they continued their drinking game, leaving Derora with uncertainty about what was going to happen next during their visit. 

-End of Chapter 7


End file.
